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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26723350">The Whirlpool Pirates</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gylfie109/pseuds/Gylfie109'>Gylfie109</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lost In The Ebb And Flow Of The Tide [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Naruto, One Piece</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alive Thatch (One Piece), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Autistic Character, Blood and Gore, But in a friendly way, Canon-Typical Violence, Casual Violence, Explicit Language, F/M, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Gods taking over their followers bodies is a thing here, Gore is only because of Jashinism, Hisoka and Suzuki try to murder eachother, Implied Smut, Jashinism, M/M, Medical Inaccuracies, Multi, Oops, Other, Polyamory, Polyandry, Suzuki and Hidan are their own warning, These two are basically old people how are they so energetic?, They could have been having bath, Wanderlust, accidental cannibalism, but just in case, but only if you read it that way, don't mind me just adding crack ships into the background, how the hell did i forget about that, sealing tattoos</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 08:34:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>26,759</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26723350</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gylfie109/pseuds/Gylfie109</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When a storm comes sweeping over Uzushio, the village finds itself thrown into a world not their own.</p><p>Suzuki and Hisoka find this hilarious and decide to have yet another adventure.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Dai-nana-han | Team 7 &amp; Hatake Kakashi, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto) &amp; Original Character(s), Gaara &amp; Ichibi | One-tail | Shukaku, Gaara (Naruto) &amp; Original Character(s), Haruno Sakura &amp; Uchiha Sasuke &amp; Uzumaki Naruto, Hidan/Kakuzu (Naruto)/Original Character(s), Hoshigaki Kisame/Original Male Character(s), Portgas D. Ace &amp; Original Character(s), Portgas D. Ace/Original Character(s), Thatch (One Piece) &amp; Original Female Character(s), Whitebeard Pirates &amp; Original Female Character(s), Whitebeard Pirates &amp; Original Male Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Lost In The Ebb And Flow Of The Tide [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1713016</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Time Travel and World Travel</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When a storm came sweeping over our cozy island, no one thought too hard about it. Tropical storms happen all the time, there was no reason why this one should be any different.</p><p>When it happened, I was out with Chiasa and Gaara, helping the sailors tie their fishing boats up so they wouldn't get swept away by the raging waters. </p><p>Hicchan was somewhere on the other side of the island, probably fooling around with Kisame. </p><p>There was no warning, just a cut off scream from one of the fishermen as he was dragged into the air by a newly formed tornado. </p><p>I tried my best to get everyone out of there, but it was just too quick. Roots tried and failed to anchor my feet to the ground, and I could hear Chiasa scream as her hands slipped out of mine and she disappeared into the sky. Gaara was only still with me because he had managed to tether himself to my waist and strengthened his grip with his sand.</p><p>I couldn't tell which way was up anymore but I swear I could hear Hidan loud and clear- and yeah that was him as he got thrown, butt naked, right past me. </p><p>It was a curious thing, this storm. It seemed to only be picking up people and the lighter things that were outside. The people that had been inside seemed like they had been sucked out the windows of their homes.</p><p>I don't know how long we were up there in the tornado, but it seemed as if everyone on the island was up in the air, being tossed around like ragdolls. When it finally stopped, we were on an island, but not OUR island. </p><p>This new island was small, only a beach and a handful of trees in the middle, none bearing fruit. </p><p>I patted Gaara's head and gently eased his fingers off of my clothes, brushing off the excess sand, before going to find my husbands, Gaara rushing off to go find his siblings. </p><p>Hidan was easy to find, he was to only one cussing out the sky, and still butt naked. </p><p>"Hidan, honey, where are your clothes?" I asked. In other situations, I would have been fine letting him walk around like that. But think of the children.</p><p>"I don't fucking know, I was taking a bath and then the shitty fucking storm pulled me out the window. It fucking hurt." He ranted, but I tuned him out and went looking for a spare set of clothing in one of the seals tattooed on my arms. Once I found what I was looking for, I handed him one of my skirts and an unused pair of underwear. </p><p>"Please just…. Put those on. I don't care if you don't like the color or whatever, but you need to wear something. If you don't like those, go find Hicchan."</p><p>"Fuck you, I'll wear the skirt. It's mine now." I held up my hands in surrender.</p><p>Kakuzu found us instead, having snuck up behind me and wrapped his arms around my shoulders.</p><p>"Do you know where in the fuck we are, 'kuzu?" I asked, leaning my head back to look at him.</p><p>"No. It's like we are in a completely different world. There's nothing for miles."</p><p>Ocean world with nothing for miles…. Why does that sound famil- oh fuck we're in One Piece aren't we?</p><p>"I think I might have an idea on where we are now, but I'll have to check my theory with Hicchan before I say anything. Love you, I'll see you guys later." I pressed a kiss to Kakuzu's jawline and ducked out of his arms, heading off in the direction of my brother's familiar chakra.</p><p>"Hey, Hicchan! Can you help me- OH MY GOD PUT SOME CLOTHES ON YOU TWO, THERE ARE CHILDREN AROUND." I slapped a hand over my eyes to give them at least some semblance of privacy as both Hisoka and his giant shark man scrambled to put clothing on.</p><p>"Okay, we're decent. What'd ya need?" I took my hand away from my face.</p><p>"I need to confirm my theory. I have an idea on where we are but I need you to confirm it for me. Does this seem famil-" I was cut off by a giant pink and white birdlike sea monster that rose out of the water and snatched a seagull out of the sky before disappearing back into the water.</p><p>"Does that confirm your theory, Suchan?" Hicchan deadpanned. I nodded silently.</p><p>"We're gonna need a ship if we wanna get off this island. Do you think you can make something big enough to fit the entire village?" I asked.</p><p>"Nope, not without it being unable to stay afloat. I can make two large ships that can raft up easily though. I can get Tenzō to help with the design." </p><p>"Great. I'll go find someone who can be the navigators of each ship, and I'll get Yuyō to make silk sails for the masts." We high fived and went our separate ways.</p><p> I bit my thumb and slammed my hand in the sand, pulling at my favorite summons connection with ease. When the giant black widow appeared from the smoke, she was very confused.</p><p>"Suzuki-chan, where are we? This is not Uzushio." I shook my head.</p><p>"No, it isn't. We aren't anywhere in the Elemental Nations either. We have no idea on how to get back, but Hicchan is building some ships for us so that we can potentially find our way home. We need you to help make the sails for us. Can you go find him and stay with him for me?"</p><p>"Of course, whatever you need me for Suzuki-chan." I watched her scurry after my brother for a second before I resumed my search.</p><p>When I found Utakata and Zabuza, I knew I'd struck gold.</p><p>"Zabuza-sensei! Uta-san! I got a question for you guys!" I ran over and smiled at them.</p><p>"Whaddya want, brat?" Zabuza asked.</p><p>"Do you guys know how to sail a boat? We need two navigators because all of us won't fit on a single boat."</p><p>"It's something all Mist jonin need to know how to do, Suzuki." Utakata said and I nodded.</p><p>"Good! Thank you Sensei, Utakata!" I said, just in time too. Two large ships sprang into existence, the sudden displacement of water creating huge waves that never reached the shore.</p><p>I shunshined over, and marveled at the two gorgeous ships. Fortune's Fool and Fool's Fortune were carved into the hull, and I couldn't help but laugh at the matching names.</p><p>Yuyō was already up on the masts of the Fool's Fortune, weaving a pretty white sail. </p><p>The figurehead for Fool's Fortune was a snarling dragon while Fortune's Fool had a phoenix instead.</p><p>" We can paint it once we get to a place to buy paint. They probably don't use the same currency as we do, so we'll have to figure that out as we go." Hisoka gestured secretly behind us. I glanced over and saw the row boat he had hidden in a hedge.</p><p>I nodded and he grinned. I dismissed Yuyō and started helping people load into the ship. Once there was no one on the other side of the island, Hicchan dragged the rowboat into the water and I handed a note to Kankurō before legging it to the row boat and using a water jutsu to send us speeding away from everyone else.</p><p>I love them, but we can't stay with everyone if we want to do things like punch a warlord in the face. Or a celestial dragon. Or Dragon. Or Blackbeard. It'd be too dangerous for the civilians if we were associated with the traveling village.</p><p>Of course, being us, it did not take long for us to run into trouble.</p><p>A sea king decided that we would be the perfect snack and tried to eat us, boat and all.</p><p>We decidedly did NOT want to be eaten. </p><p>I attempted to punch it in the eye as Hisoka held its jaws open. It thrashed and tried to drag us under the water, but I managed to dig my fingers into its left eye and pulled, ripping the damned thing out of its socket. </p><p>The Sea King dropped our little boat and ducked under water, with me still clinging to its gills. I let go and let the water swirl around me before I formed a hand sign and the water around me shot up and deposited me in the little dinghy. </p><p>"THAT WAS AMAZING!" I whooped and high fived Hisoka.</p><p>"DUDE, YOU EVEN RIPPED OUT IT'S EYE! HOW COOL IS THAT?!" He cheered.</p><p>After a celebratory dance, we went back to rowing. Of course, I still used water jutsus to make the trip faster.</p><p>And as always, someone got punched. That someone being me. Hicchan punched me off the boat when he went to point out a pirate ship in the distance.</p><p>I splashed in the water, trying to shake water out of my eyes and climbed back into the dinghy. </p><p>I stared at the ship, squinting to try to make out the details. Then my eyes widened and I sat down with a solid thunk.</p><p>"That's the Moby Dick. Oh shit, I did NOT think we'd run into them this soon. That means Whitebeard. Hicchan, please do not question his name if you see him, and please stop me from trying to sacrifice any of them to Jashin-sama right off the bat." I pleaded.</p><p>"Alright, as long as you do the same for me." I shook his hand, and then promptly decked him in the face. He retaliated by throwing me about a hundred feet straight up into the air.</p><p>"fuckfuckfUCKFUCKFUCKF<strong>UCKFUCKFUCKFU</strong>CKFUckfuckfuckfuck." I landed in the water beside the boat, and decided that floating in the water beside the boat was much more favorable than sitting in the boat with the traitor. </p><p>Hisoka kept paddling, bonking me on the head a few times with his paddle. </p><p>Then I heard a roar and decided that I needed to fight it. </p><p>A herd of Sea Kings decided to try attacking the Whitebeard Pirates. Which was very stupid because Whitebeard is an extremely stupidly intimidating man.</p><p>I unsealed my scythe and got ready for what I was about to do.</p><p>"WATER DRAGON JUTSU!" I yelled and the water under the boat turned into a dragon, dragging the boat towards the fight at top speed.</p><p>Obviously, Hicchan was itching for a proper fight just as much as I was because he had his yari out just as fast as I did.</p><p>The jutsu stopped a decent bit away from the fight so that we wouldn't lose our boat in the destruction. The sudden stopping did manage to yeet both of us out of the boat/water and into the fight,though.</p><p>"YAHOO!" I yelled as I swung my weapon at the cow patterned creature. Hicchan was right behind me, sinking his spear into the soft tissue between another's eyes.</p><p>"TAKE THAT YOU ABSOLUTE FUCK NUGGET!" I screeched as I hacked at its neck with my scythe, doing as much damage to a single point as possible.</p><p>I could hear someone wheeze behind me, but I couldn't look to see who it was as if I did I'd fall.</p><p>I slapped an amplified explosion tag on another's face and launched myself away, laughing loudly.</p><p>"SHE'S GONNA BLOW!" I yelled and everyone seemed to take me seriously because they all took cover. The explosion was big enough to send me tumbling into the Moby Dick's sails. I rolled off the sail and onto the deck.</p><p>"<em>Ergph</em>…" I rolled over only to see <strong>Whitebeard</strong> himself standing over me.</p><p>Startled, I immediately went into fight or flight mode. I chose fight.</p><p>I blindly swung my fist at his face and scooched as far away as I could without going overboard.</p><p>"<strong>IMSORRYYOUAREVERYBIGANDIAMTINYCOMPAREDTOYOUANDAMEASILYSTARTLED</strong>." I practically vomited the words at the huge man before I caught a whiff of the stench of sickness emanating from the man. I could feel my eyes widen to comically large proportions as I covered my nose.</p><p>"You smell like you're ill. My brother is a doctor, I can get him to help you if you'd accept the help. He can heal almost anything." I whirled around and went to the railings, not waiting for an answer. I hopped up onto the railing only to get slapped in the face by a huge gust.</p><p>"Now, I know we're in the calm belt, so that was either Hicchan slapping a sea king or a huge ass fart. I'm more inclined to believe the first one." I squinted at Hisoka, only to see him get slapped into the ocean. </p><p>I sighed, resealed my scythe, and grabbed my favorite weapon, The Sword Of The Thunder God. Activating the sword, I jumped off the boat and landed on the water, sprinting at the remaining Sea Kings. With the power of lightning on my side, slicing through the beasts was incredibly easy.</p><p>Of course, I still got injured because the gods hate me. </p><p>"<strong>AAAAH OUR ROWBOAT! NO!"</strong> I watched as Hisoka screeched about his ruined creation and completely ignored the giant bite mark in my shoulder.</p><p>"You can make a new one later, Hicchan. Right now we need to get out of the water." I pointed out and he glared at me before seeing the wound and promptly going into doctor mode.</p><p>Hicchan picked me up and walked up the side of the ship before depositing me on the deck and putting his hands on my shoulder, instantly glowing a soft green. </p><p>Skin stitched back together under my brothers watchful eyes and steady hands, not a single flaw left behind.</p><p>I stretched my arms and sighed.</p><p>"Much better, thanks Hicchan."</p><p>"No problem. I became a doctor because of you, of course I'm gonna heal you- Aight, whaddya want from me." I not so subtly pointed at Whitebeard, who honestly just looked amused, while his crew was looking like someone just declared they were God.</p><p>Hicchan took one look at the man and promptly scowled. A familiar look, one meaning he was not letting you leave without treatment no matter how much you struggle. </p><p>Hicchan dragged the man to the captain's quarters, loudly berating the man for not taking proper care of himself and not seeking any help.</p><p>'<em>Poor old man. Hicchan may be a doctor but his bedside manners are practically nonexistent. I do not envy you</em>.' I laughed to myself only for someone to snort and clap a hand on my shoulder.</p><p>I turned and blinked owlishly up at the man holding my shoulder.</p><p>"I must be more tired than I thought if I said that out loud."</p><p>"I think we're going to get along great, with humor like that. I'm Thatch, the 4th division commander and cook for the Whitebeard Pirates. And your name?" The dead man asked, and I couldn't help but find him charming. No way in hell am I letting this guy get needlessly murdered.</p><p>"I'm Nakamura Suzuki, the brawn, charisma, and cook of our little runt of a group. The brat of a doctor is my little brother, Hisoka. He's our common sense. It’s nice ‘ta meet ya, Thatch." I grinned and held a hand out to the tall man. Thatch smiled and shook my hand, and I was actually surprised by how large his hands are compared to mine.</p><p>“What were you guys doing in the calm belt in a tiny rowboat of all things? The closest island is at least a few days away, and no offence but no rowboat should be able to withstand the constant onslaught of attacks by Sea kings.”</p><p>“None taken! This is actually the first day of our journey, the only reason we made it this far is because Hisoka and I have an extremely random set of skills. We took off earlier this morning while everyone was getting ready to set sail.” Everyone listening facefaulted and I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly.</p><p>“You left your crew?” Haruta asked, obviously curious.</p><p>“Nah, we dipped after helping our village build ships big enough to carry the entire village, civilians and all. It’d be too dangerous to stay with them and risk being associated with ‘em, what with the fact that we have some very dangerous things we wanna do. Don’t wanna risk the kids getting targeted and all that, right?” I shrugged.</p><p>“This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” Thatch’s grin grew, and I offered him an even bigger one that showed way too many teeth.</p><p>“That it does.”</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Song is Song of the Abyss by Aviators.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>I side stepped Hisoka as he tried to dig a kunai into my spleen before I spun and slammed my heel into his spine, effectively forcing him to eat sand. </p>
<p>“Hicchan, you’re getting rusty with short range weapons. We’ll need to up your close combat training.” I said as I grabbed his foot and swung him into a tree.</p>
<p>He snarled and knelt, forming the snake seal and-</p>
<p>
  <b>“WOOD RELEASE: SMOTHERING BINDING TECHNIQUE!” </b>
</p>
<p>“Oh shi-” I was cut off by the wooden beams that erupted from his arms and went straight for my throat. I didn’t manage to dodge in time and was held an inch above the ground.</p>
<p>“Yield.” He growled.</p>
<p> I snorted and flicked a senbon out of my sleeve and into my hand before flicking the needle at his larynx, which probably would have killed a normal person but not us. Not someone with Jashin-sama’s favor. </p>
<p>Hicchan stumbled as he ripped the needle out of his neck and cut the jutsu so that he could heal his wound.  </p>
<p>I bared my teeth and gathered chakra in my mouth, shaping it into a point and changing the nature to lightning at the last moment before practically spitting the spear at my brother, the lightning burning my lips as it passed. My aim was true and it cut right through his right hip.</p>
<p>Hicchan lunged at me, exhaling chakra onto the senbon and slashed at my throat. I countered by plunging my hand through his shoulder, even as I was almost decapitated. </p>
<p>“You know better than to give me a weapon during our spars, Suchan. I thought you were smarter than this.” Hicchan said, and I grinned before spitting blood right in his eyes.</p>
<p>“And you know better than to underestimate my lack of self preservation, brother dearest.” I crooned before shoving him away. </p>
<p>“<b>WHAT THE FUCK?!</b>” Ace yelled in confusion and horror, and the crew all swarmed us, trying to help. </p>
<p>Thatch ended up wrapping his hand around my throat in an attempt to stop the bleeding and yelling for the nurses. I just raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to realize that I wasn't actually in any danger.</p>
<p>The nurses rushed to Hicchan and tried to get him to lie down.</p>
<p>“No, no. I’m fine, don’t bother. I can fix myself up in a minute, I got to fix Suchan up first though.” Hicchan pushed past the girls and limped towards me, his hands already glowing green. </p>
<p>“When the hell did you learn Gian? You never showed any interest in learning it before, and it leaves so much destruction in its wake that we would’ve heard you practicing it.” he nudged Thatch’s hand away from the gash.</p>
<p>“Kakuzu is my husband, of course he’d teach me some of his jutsu. Just like you know  the water shark bullet technique from Kisame. Don’t underestimate my learning capacity, Hicchan.” I spoke after my vocal cords were fixed and wiped the blood away with a small water jutsu, before meeting Marco’s panicked gaze.</p>
<p>“You said you were going to have a LIGHT SPAR, not that you were going to attempt to <em> murder </em> each other, yoi!” He grabbed my shoulders and shook me.</p>
<p>“What do you mean? That <em> was </em>light. I’ve taken way worse hits than that, I wasn't in any danger.” I furrowed my brows. Everyone’s jaws dropped.</p>
<p>
  <b>“WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WEREN'T IN ANY DANGER, YOI?! YOU'RE HEAD WAS ALMOST TAKEN OFF AND YOU IMPALED YOUR BROTHER!”</b>
</p>
<p>“I’m of the belief that it’d take nothing less than divine intervention to kill Suchan. Trust me, with how many times I’ve had to reattach limbs and replace organs, I doubt even that will do much. She’s like the world's biggest cockroach.” Hicchan scoffed and finished fixing his hip.</p>
<p>“HEY! I resent that! Besides, Hidan, Kakuzu, and I didn’t earn the moniker ‘Zombie Combo’ for nothing you know.”</p>
<p>“Kakuzu is an abomination towards humanity, and Hidan is a stain on Uzushio’s good name. I have no idea why you married either of them.” Hicchan grumbled.</p>
<p>“You married Fishbreath McTrustIssues, You don’t get a say in this.” I shot back. </p>
<p>Everyone just kind of stared at us, and then Izo turned to Whitebeard.</p>
<p>“And you wanted to offer her a position as a nurse.” I blinked at that.</p>
<p>“You… want us on your crew?” I couldn’t actually believe that we were being offered a position on such a famous pirate crew.</p>
<p>“<em> GURARARA! </em>Of course I want you on my crew! You're already part of the family.” I blinked at Whitebeard in shock before looking at Hicchan. He had the same idea as I did.</p>
<p>“We’re sorry but we’ll need some time to think about this.” Hicchan started.</p>
<p>“We sent word to some of our family members and asked if they would like to meet up with us at Drum or something, and we haven’t gotten a response back. If no one answers, then absolutely! But if we do get a response, we’d feel guilty about having to leave so soon after accepting the invitation.” I finished. </p>
<p>“Take all the time you need, Suzuki, Hisoka. The offer doesn’t have an expiry date.” Thatch ruffled my hair and I playfully scowled, swatting at his hands.</p>
<p>“Alright, let's get back to the Moby Dick before you two give us any more heart attacks, yoi.” Marco ushered all of us back to the ship. </p>
<p>I didn’t bother getting into the row boat, unlike Hicchan, and walked on the water. Ace got on his skiff and tore off towards the ship, and I followed closely behind. </p>
<p>I gave him a cheeky smirk before doing a front flip and speeding up, leaving the other speedster in my wake.</p>
<p>I didn't bother to wait for the others to reach the ship and instead walked up the side and sat on the railing. </p>
<p>While I was waiting for the others to catch up, a handful of assorted spiders crawled up from the floorboards and up my legs. I scooped up a particularly large wharf spider and held it closer to my face. It rubbed against my thumb and made a low rumbling sound, almost like a cat.</p>
<p>“Do you have anything for me, darling?” I cooed, and the little guy waved his front legs at me. I pulled at the strings it offered me and let the information flow through my head. </p>
<p>“So, they got their hands on a log pose huh? That’s good. Zabuza is doing a good job on organizing routes for them to take….. Why the fuck are they at Mirror Ball Island??? Whatever. Uh…  No one’s gotten hurt yet, so that’s good. Looking for an island for all those who want to settle down, huh? Tell them I recommend Shimotsuki Village, located somewhere around…. here. They could probably use the help, and it’s in an easy to find place,” I opened my eyes and smiled at the little guy, “Did you get all that, lil buddy?” He chirruped and crawled back down my arms and into the wood below.</p>
<p>“Excuse me, what the hell was that.” I looked up at Ace.</p>
<p>“That was my network passing information to me about what my village is up to right now.” I said and gently shooed the remaining spiders off of my person, promising some juicy bugs the next time I saw them. </p>
<p>“So you got word back about your family?”</p>
<p>“Yeah, a few of them are breaking off on their own to do their own thing. I’d like to see them at some point, but I'll probably come across them at some point seeing as all the ones that are splitting off are practically beacons to anyone who knows them. Trouble makers, the lot of them .” I chuckled.</p>
<p>Ace went to say something but he fell asleep. I laughed gently and hopped off the railing, guiding the young raven haired man to the ground so that he wasn’t just standing in the middle of the deck. I sat beside him and lifted his head into my lap, dragging my fingers through his curly hair. </p>
<p>Everyone returned, and Whitebeard gave me a soft look when he saw me sitting with his kid.  Hicchan sat beside me and unsealed a guitar. He took a moment to tune the instrument before he started playing a soft melody, one I recognized from home.  I hummed along with him before I started to sing in a low voice.</p>
<p>“<em> Old friend, we seem surrounded as decay is closing in and the kiss of deadly silence has been placed upon my skin. For the code we’re bound to follow, you have led my last crusade. Now we're swallowed by the city as it fades. </em>” The crew started to drift towards us, all doing their own thing while still listening to my voice. Haruta even sat near us as he started maintenance on his sabre.</p>
<p>“<em> I will shield you from the darkness when the walls around us quake. I will hold back all the monsters until my bones begin to break. When I've lost I'll have to leave you. And the tears, they'll fall like rain. If I 'm taken by the shadows, I will spare you from the pain, from the pain.” </em>Thatch sat down close to us, looking out at the sea.</p>
<p>“<em> Cry a requiem for sunlight, hide away now from the dark. To me the angered deep is calling, tearing me apart. Somehow the whispers do command me when the abyss has taken hold. Now carry on in glory when I grow cold </em>.” I hummed the instrumental with Hicchan. Ace stirred, but didn’t wake up.</p>
<p>"<em> I will shield you from the darkness when the walls around us quake. I will hold back all the monsters until my bones begin to break. When I've lost I'll have to leave you.And the tears, they'll fall like rain.If I'm taken by the shadows, I will spare you from the pain. Foolishly I left the darkness creeping. In this restless ruin my soul is bleeding. I confess to you the dark has taken me prisoner. I am corrupt beyond any rescue. I've forsaken my vow to protect you. Oh, end these horrors, face the father of the sinister </em>." My voice pitched up slightly on that last word.</p>
<p>“<em> If the fight's over I will sacrifice my mind, just to know you'll still be breathing when the years have been unkind. So continue on without me, guard my body and my flame. Keep a watch over the wasteland when the world forgets my name.I will shield you from the darkness when the walls around us quake. I will hold back all the monsters until my bones begin to break. When I've lost I'll have to leave you.And the tears, they'll fall like rain.If I'm taken by the shadows, I will spare you from the pain. </em>” I finished and everything was silent for a few precious moments before that silence was broken by cheers.</p>
<p>“Do you know any more songs?” Blamenco asked and everyone paid attention.</p>
<p>“We can take requests, although we’ll only do them if Hisoka knows how to play the song.” and with that we were performing for the fleet as a whole, mixing requests with songs from home, for around three hours before Hicchan’s fingers grew stiff and my voice became hoarse, and we decided to retire for the night.</p>
<p>By that time, Ace had woken up and had apologized for using me as a glorified pillow, but I waved him off as I was used to it. </p>
<p>I had started off in the girls bunk, but Hicchan and I proved that our codependency ran so deep that we just drifted to each other during the night, whether we were awake or not. There were quite a few times that i’d woken up in his hammock with no idea how i’d ended up there, our limbs so intertwined that we fell off trying to untangle ourselves. The opposite was also true, and had often ended up with Hicchan getting chased out in the morning by the other girls.</p>
<p>So instead of staying with the girls, I moved into the guys bunk and shared Hicchan’s hammock. No one really cared, it’s not as if i was going to make anyone uncomfortable with my presence. I didn’t change in the bunk, and I was respectful of the others' privacy.</p>
<p>In the morning, I asked Izo if he could help me sew the Whitebeard Jolly Roger onto the backs of all of Hicchan’s shirts and my coats. The look on his face made my nonexistent heart warm.</p>
<p>The cheers of the crew when I walked in with the Jolly Roger displayed proudly on my back would always have a special place in my mind.</p>
<p>Later that day, Thatch found the Yami Yami no Mi.</p>
<p>The look of greed that Teach gave my friend sent shivers down my spine.</p>
<p>The next week, Hicchan and I were on high alert. We had no idea when Teach would make his move due to our interference, and it had me on edge.</p>
<p>I spent most of my time directing my little spies to keep an eye on Teach and making sure that Thatch was never left alone with him, as well as learning new recipes in the kitchen with the cook.</p>
<p>Hicchan spent his time pestering Teach for tips on planning, and bugging the others to get a medical exam. </p>
<p>Then one night my spiders warned me that Teach was heading to the deck, where Thatch had just headed to for some fresh air. </p>
<p>I elbowed Hisoka and got up, silent as a snake, following the traitor with my brother right behind me. I opened the door just as Teach made his move. Even though I had been expecting it, I couldn’t stop the scream that had torn it’s way from my throat.</p>
<p><b> <em>“THATCH!”</em> </b> </p>
<p>Teach turned just as i launched myself at his face with an ugly snarl, fingers poised to dig into his eyes and rip them from his ugly face.</p>
<p>Hisoka was at Thatch’s side, pumping green chakra into his chest at an almost alarming speed, doing his best to keep our friend alive and get him in a stable condition.</p>
<p>I managed to mangle one of the man's eyes before he grabbed me by the throat and squeezed, crushing my windpipe. I scrabbled for a hold and grasped at the arm holding me off the ground. I grabbed his elbow and enhanced my grip with chakra, squeezing until I was sure his elbow was nothing but dust.</p>
<p>He dropped me and I went for his kneecaps, sinking my teeth down into the bone. He delivered a swift kick to my ribs, sending me flying into the railing. Lightning flashed overhead, highlighting the evil sneer on the giant man's face.</p>
<p>“Thatch is stable.” Hicchan said just as Ace and Marco came onto the deck, looks of horror painted on their faces.</p>
<p>I felt a familiar power flood through my veins and suddenly, I was no longer in control of my body. My body climbed to its feet in jerky, unnatural movements, mirrored exactly by my younger brother.</p>
<p>Drums pounded in my ears, an unearthly humming filling my head. My muscles tore from the strain of being forced to move in ways my body was not meant to move. I could feel blood pouring from my eyes, nose and ears from the overwhelming pressure of my god hijacking my body. There was an ear splitting whine and then my mouth opened, the voices of the dead poured from my lips, tearing my vocal cords to shreds.</p>
<p>
  <b> <em>“̿̊͗̀̕L̐̾̽̈͝I҇̾̇t͗̅͝t́̌̀́͞L҇̈́̄E͌̚͝ R̔͛͌̍̈͠A̛̋̾̒̅͗B̋̽͞B̛͗͂i̛̓͂̂͒̀t̂̓̾̕,̛̈́͛̋͛̚ R҇̈̉͋u̾̔͗̚͡n̅͛͌̄̚͝ r̿͋͑̌͝u͐͂͋̉͝n̊̒̉͞ R̓̆͡U͋̂͡N̏̔͞ f͗͌̾͝A̛̍̈́̂R҇̉ A̍̈̚͡w̽̏͠A̽̌̽̉̉͝Y͊̇͞ A͛̐͝N̄̔̋͠d̛͗͑ p̄́̂͠R̛̒͆̈́͋̂Ä́̌̓͞Y̐̈͆̊͡ M͛̓̆̈́̕y̆̔͐͞ W̄̇̑͗͞o̓̇̇̊̽͝l͊̍͝V̛̅̍͆Ë̐̋̍͡S̎̉̑͝ N҇̄͑E҇̿͊̽V̎͑̚͝E҇̂̂͑R̒́̅̓̕ f̂̈̀͑̊͡ỉ̛̽̈̅̆N̍̓͠D̏͞ Y҇̾̆̓̒o҇̄̑̾Ư̋̏͗.̛͌̓̿̋ T̈͛̅̕H̋̈͆͛͂͠E҇͑̆̽̚Y̔͊͞ Ḧ̏̑̚͞Ȧ̛̉v̛͋́̆̚e҇̂͛ Ḃ̇̋̓̚͝E͒̿̓͞E͌̃̚͞n͛̓͆̒͡ ď̛̇̾ý̄͐͞I̊͝N҇̔͌̎G҇̔̚ F̂̂͝Ò͆͛͝Ř̿͑͝ a҇̎̽͛̌ G͊̆͝ő̍̃͞o͋̊̕̚D͊̄̓̃̐͞ H̅̓͆͞U̐̚͝N҇̏̋̉̋Ť̆̕.̉̇̆͞”̾̑͞</em> </b>
</p>
<p>Jashin-sama smiled using our bodies, and it was not a nice smile. There were too many teeth, all sharp and porcelain, and blood spilled from our mouth as our lips split from being pulled too wide.</p>
<p>Teach took one look at us, slowly taking steps towards him with that uncanny expression, and did what any sensible person faced with that would do. </p>
<p>He fled.</p>
<p>As soon as he was out of sight, we both collapsed like puppets with the strings cut, immediately seizing up. I coughed up a good chunk of my lung before everything went black.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Waking up was a painful thing. The lights stung my bleary eyes, My throat was as dry as the Alabasta desert, everything was too loud, my nose hurt from the strong smell of antiseptic, my muscles screamed at even the slightest twitch. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a person on each of my side, holding my hands. Someone's head was on the side of my bed. Going by the wet patch I could feel on my leg, they were either drooling on me, had been crying, or both.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I groaned and inched myself into a sitting position. I looked around the room and found that the people at my sides were none other than Ace and Thatch. Hisoka was slumped over in a chair at the foot of my bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I spotted a glass of water on the side table, so I grabbed it and downed the entire thing in less than a second. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>After I finished, I looked for something to kawarimi with….. That pillow on the other bed. I formed the hand signs and reached out with my chakra before pulling a switcheroo on the two men. Once I managed to stand, I took a few seconds to just breathe.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once I regained my ability to move without hurting like Gai-san just ran me over, I slowly made my way out onto the deck. The crew was all strewn about the deck, looking like they were trying to be productive, but it was like everyone had been caught in a sudden bout of depression.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marco was the first one to see me, leaning against the door frame to support myself. His eyes widened comically, looking very out of place on his usually sleepy looking face. He dropped his coffee. The mug shattered on the floor, drawing everyone’s attention to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Marco? What’s wro-” Masked Deuce followed his gaze, stopping when he saw me.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“....Suzuki?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hi guys.” I raised a hand, giving a wobbly smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I was not prepared to be rushed by Marco, who picked me up and buried his face in my neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We thought you were going to die, yoi. The nurses couldn’t find your pulse, and you weren't breathing for the longest time.” He said into my neck. Everyone had tears in their eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I suppose this is a bad time to tell you guys that Hisoka and I are both immortal?” I asked out loud.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marco froze for a second before he laughed, long and hard, spinning me around. I laughed with him before he put me down. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Soon, everyone is laughing loudly and exchanging hugs, spinning me around if they were tall enough to be able to lift me off the ground, or doing a little dance if they weren’t. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Thatch and Ace came up, looking panicked, before they saw me. I opened my arms, offering a cheeky smile. Thatch rushed over, picking me right up off the ground, my feet dangling a good 6-7 inches off the ground. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You saved my life.” I shook my head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, that was all Hisoka. I just gave him the time he needed to get you stable.” I said into his chest.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You deserve credit too. You risked your life fighting Teach, and then that last thing you did tore your body apart from the inside.” He said into my hair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thatch, I’ve been living without my heart for 9 years. I wouldn’t have died no matter what Teach did to me.” I patted his back, only for Ace to grab me and look me in the eyes. Which was rather hard for him to do, seeing as he was a full 5 inches shorter than myself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean you’ve been living without your heart for 9 years.” That was more of a statement than a question.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It means that when she was 20, she decided ripping her heart out of her chest and giving it to her husband was a rather romantic thing to do.” Hisoka answered for me, and I smiled sheepishly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wasn’t my best moment, was it?” I laughed nervously. Ace stared at me incredulously.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This guy better be the shit for you to have been willing to maim yourself for him, or I’m gonna slap you.” Ace said, dead serious.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> I stepped back and henged into Kakuzu, unmasked and hair down. I crossed my arms and glared.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fire Fist Ace, bounty 550,000,000 berries. It must be my lucky day</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” I rumbled. Ace paled, looking at the intimidating form of my first husband. Which is to say that I had all the scars and prison markings on full display, making it very clear that he is a very dangerous man.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, that’s enough of scaring the kid Suchan. Your eldritch abomination of a husband is scary, we get that. Now show them your other dumbass of a husband.” Hicchan kicked me in the shin. I complied, shifting the henge into the shorter albino.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Eh? What are you staring at? Do I have something on my face?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Hidan’s higher pitched voice tumbled from my lips, the ease of which came from living with the man for 10 years.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hicchan, if i have to do this, so do you. Show ‘em Kisame." I elbowed him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He sighed, resigned, and complied. He disappeared in a puff of smoke before reappearing as the tall blue swordsman, Samehada strapped to his back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>This world is not kind to those who favor honesty. I would like to change that</span>
  </em>
  <span>." He said before releasing the henge. I did the same, giving Ace a tired smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then he said something so quiet that it probably wasn't meant to be heard, but we aren't normal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh god, I never even had a chance with either of you did I?</span>
  </em>
  <span>"</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Oh.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Oooh.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Well that just can't be left alone, can it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I placed a hand on his shoulder and leaned in beside his ear, and said in a low voice only meant for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>I wouldn't necessarily say that, Ace. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised if you do try." </span>
  </em>
  <span>He shivered slightly and Hisoka interrupted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"Hey Ace, I can do that check up now that Suchan is awake. Let's go." I didn't argue, following my brother. He's always been better at the more practical things, but even he needs help sometimes. Sometimes, it takes an outsider's view to realize something that's obvious.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He took us into the med-bay, making sure to shoo the nurses out for Ace’s privacy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Suzuki, you know a fair bit more on genetics than I do, due to your training under resident mad scientist Orochimaru. I have a theory, but I need your insight. What do you see?” He gestured at Ace.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I took a moment to shove any emotional attachments to the back of my mind and took on the cold, clinical mask that I donned while working with Orochimaru before I stepped towards Ace and used the only medical jutsu I knew how to use. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Diagnostic jutsu.” I muttered and scanned him, ignoring the startled gasp that left Ace’s mouth. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So far I can't find anything out of pla- there. </span>
  <span>HLA-DQB1 has a mutation that’s been causing your narcolepsy. This particular gene though… is concerning. It could be dormant, but that’s not a risk I'm willing to take. Hisoka, do you have his family records? It could be a disease passed down through his bloodline.” i said, even though i knew full well that it was, and that if i wanted to keep this man alive for as long as possible, i would have to force him through this uncomfortable ordeal. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace stiffened up and started to get up, but I pushed him back down, throwing my mask away in favor of comforting my friend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I-i can’t tell you that. I- He-” i cut him off by pressing a finger to his lips.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ace, if your worried that we’ll hate you for your heritage, that’s just stupid and would be incredibly hypocritical of us. If it were under any other circumstances, i wouldn’t give a flying fuck about your heritage. The only reason I’m asking now is because it could be a matter of life and death, and I don’t want to take that risk. If you don’t feel comfortable, I can call pops in here and leave if that will help you calm down.” I took his hands in mine and crouched so I was looking him right in the eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He laughed, and it was such a pitiful broken sounding thing that it sent shivers straight down my spine. Ace is not supposed to sound like </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You wouldn’t be saying that if you knew who my father was.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ace, I wouldn’t give a damn about who your father was even if he was a fucking flamingo. I can guarantee that our situation is probably similar to yours, if not worse. Try me.” I challenged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“My father was the king of pirates, Gol D. Roger.” He spat at me, flinching back when my face went blank. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“See! I told you you’d hate me-”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ace shut up, i do not hate you. It actually makes some sense. Roger had a disease that was killing him. I didn’t think it was genetic though… Luckily for you, Ace, you show no symptoms of the disease that he had. There’s nothing we can do unless your body suddenly decides to start killing itself.” I said and stood up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course you’d figure it out before I did, Suzuki. What did I think would happen?” Hisoka laughed and took my hand, pulling me into an affectionate hug.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You- What?” Ace asked dazedly. Hisoka released me and turned to his patient. sitting in the chair beside the bed Ace was on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ace, we didn’t react to your heritage because we too were hunted because of our bloodline. Our real names are Uchiha-Senju Hisoka and Suzuki. We were hunted because we were the product of two of the prominent families from our home, two vicious enemies until almost all of them were snuffed out by a tyrant. That same tyrant hunted us relentlessly until we managed to gain the backing to wage war against him, and we won. Until just a few years ago, we were hunted because of something we couldn’t control, the same as what you’ve probably been told your entire life. You have a form of protection we didn’t have, you look nothing like your father aside from your hair colour. Suchan however looks exactly like our great-grandfather and our little cousin, and I look like our uncle. We also share the same birthmark as our other great-grandfather, so it was almost impossible for us to hide without the help of our adopted family.” Hisoka explained, and that was honestly the longest I’ve ever heard him speak.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And I like to think your adopted family holds much more claim over you than some old dead guy.” I piped in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace stared at me and Hisoka as if he thought we’d turn around and laugh in his face. I gave him a soft smile, and that seemed to be the final straw for him, because he broke down crying.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>An hour later, when he fell asleep on me in the middle of asking a question, Hicchan carried him back to his bed, ignoring the looks that he got from the rest of the crew.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, I think that went about as well as something like that can go.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If this seems out of character, just remember that these boys thought that they were going to lose a crew member. Also, Ace has never had someone tell him that he's not a monster for his heritage, it makes sense that anyone told that for most of their life would break down once they were finally told something different.</p>
<p>I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but Luffy looks a lot more like Roger did at that age than Ace does. Ace looks much more like his mother. Which makes it kind of weird that everyone immediately jumped to 'Roger is his dad', When it would have made more sense for the officials to look at Rouge, see that she was pregnant way after Roger's death, and assume that some random traveler with black hair was his dad. Like, what the hell was going on in the World Government for them to make that leap?</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“And where do you think you’re going Ace?” Hisoka clamped his hand on Ace’s shoulder and gave the shorter man a sickly sweet smile.</p>
<p>“You can’t stop me from doing this, guys. Teach has to pay for what he did. I’m going after him.” Ace glared at my brother. I scoffed, drawing his glare to me.</p>
<p>“Who said we were trying to stop you, Ace? We were asking why you thought you were going to leave without us. We have beef with Teach too, in case you forgot. He tried to kill me, and almost successfully murdered one of our family. We aren’t letting that go so easily.” I crossed my arms. Ace opened and closed his mouth uselessly a few times before his shoulders sagged.</p>
<p>“I was never going to leave here without you two, was i?”</p>
<p>“Nope! But if you somehow managed to get away, we would have chased after you. No way are you going after that man alone. You have no idea what kind of devil fruit he has now, so you're at an extreme disadvantage if he has something that can counter your fire. With us, you have the advantage of multiple elements.” I smirked. Ace sighed and scooched away from Hisoka’s grip.</p>
<p>“Fine, just… hurry up. Pops isn’t going to be happy about the three of us leaving without permission.” </p>
<p>I shared a look with Hisoka before we both hopped onto his skiff. It was only made with one person in mind, but Hicchan fixed that by using his mokuton to widen and lengthen it just enough for both of us to stand comfortably while using chakra to stay on the damned thing.</p>
<p>Ace followed us just in time for Pops to realize that we were leaving. I panicked and grabbed his hand before making a water dragon just under the skiff, and we were off like a rocket, all three of us screaming in what may or may not have been fear.</p>
<p>I love and respect Whitebeard, but goddamn that man is scary when he wants to be.</p>
<p>I have no idea how long we had flown over the water before we all decided that we were a safe enough distance from Whitebeard's anger. I dropped the jutsu and Ace took over, guiding us to a little island that we could stop at to plan. We ended up in a restaurant and talked over lunch.</p>
<p>“I think we should stick to the Grand Line. If he’s after the One Piece, or even just power, it would be logical for him to stay there. If we follow a log pose the entire time, we’re bound to come across someone who’s seen him.” Hicchan said, stuffing an entire plate of sushi into his mouth. </p>
<p>“Yeah, I was thinking that too. It feels like we’re just letting him go though.” Ace grumbled. I patted his back and offered him one of my takoyaki.</p>
<p>“It’s not letting him go though, Ace. We’re gathering information before we chase after him. And if we start heading towards Alabasta, we might be able to get some of our family to join up with us and help us hunt him down. In this case, the more the merrier is in fact accurate,” I reassured Ace before adding “I would like to see Shicchan again as well.”</p>
<p>“Who’s Shicchan?” Ace asked.</p>
<p>“He’s our older cousin and teacher, Shisui. We found him in a river and Suchan decided to keep him. Not that I’m complaining though.” Hicchan explained.</p>
<p>"You can't just do that!" Ace laughed.</p>
<p>"Yeah, well that wasn't my problem. He interrupted our bath and I had to resuscitate him. Besides, he was blind. What was he gonna do? Walk into a tree? No offense to blind people, but Shisui really wasn't the most graceful in the beginning." I snorted, looking through the paper. </p>
<p>I found Luffy’s bounty and ripped it out, handing it to Ace.</p>
<p>“Isn’t this your brother?” I asked. He nodded, smiling widely.</p>
<p>“Yeah, he’s my little brother. He’s so cool isn’t he?” Ace gushed about Luffy. I smiled softly at him.</p>
<p>I know for a fact that Hisoka and I have the exact same fond look on our faces, even without looking at him.</p>
<p>Once we finished eating, Ace got up and started to leave. I sighed and left a bag of berries on the table before following him back to the skiff. Hicchan was first back on the thing because he’s an impatient little shit.</p>
<p>I punched him lightly and settled down, leaning against him. I closed my eyes and started to meditate, letting the sound of the waves and the heat of Ace’s flames tune out everything else.</p>
<p>I must have fallen asleep at some point because I woke up to snow landing on my nose. It tickled and I sneezed hard enough that I fell off the skiff.</p>
<p>“SHIT!” I yelped before water flooded into my mouth and suddenly I was freezing my ass off with my companions circling back around to come pull me out of the water.</p>
<p>“Y-you okay, Suchan?” Hisoka snorted. I snarled and slapped his hand away, climbing up by myself and draping myself over Ace’s back. He yelped when I slid my cold hands across his shoulders.</p>
<p>“Holy shit you're cold! Get offa me!” I shook my head, pressing my face into his hair.</p>
<p>“No, I don't think I will. You’re warm, and I could get sick if I don't warm up Ace.” I pouted, and he shivered. He didn’t say anything after that, but his skin was all flushed.  I smirked into his hair. </p>
<p>Eventually, we reached a place that both Hisoka and I were very familiar with.</p>
<p>Drum Kingdom. Soon to be renamed Sakura Kingdom.</p>
<p>I let go of Ace and unsealed a coat for the half naked man. </p>
<p>“Here Ace. Put this on, or you’ll catch your death out here.” He smiled at me and took it.</p>
<p>“Thanks Suzuki. But what about you? You’re soaking wet.” I laughed.</p>
<p>“I have something for that.” And then I started up a jutsu of my own creation.  My chest started glowing slightly from the fire burning in my chest. I smiled even as acrid smoke drifted from my mouth every time i took a breath.</p>
<p>"Did… you just set your lungs on fire?" Hisoka asked. I nodded. He slapped the back of my head.</p>
<p>"You're an idiot."</p>
<p>“Whatever, let’s just look around.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Two updates in one day! Yay! This'll be the last one for a bit, but i'll be back with another chapter by at least next week.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>As it turns out, Hisoka really fucking wanted to meet Doctor Kureha. Because of this, we are now hiking up the side of the mountain in knee deep snow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I am contemplating fratricide at the moment because of this.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace was perfectly fine because he is literally made of fire, and while i do have a fire going in my chest, it’s doing nothing for my arms and legs, the latter of which is starting to lose feeling. I have no idea how Hisoka is managing to do this, because he’s just wearing his crop top.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I ended up tripping and just- I just gave up.  I let Hisoka drag me through the snow until we reached the bottom of the tallest mountain, where he chucked me up the mountain. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“WHAAAT THE FUUUUUCK?!?” </b>
  <span>I screamed as i flew through the air before plopping face first in the fucKING COLD SNOW. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Suddenly there were two pairs of feet planted on my spine, and I groaned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"</span>
  <em>
    <span>Getfh rr 'eavy arshes offa meeee." </span>
  </em>
  <span>My voice came out muffled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once the weight left my back, I struggled to my feet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>"You broke my fucking spine, you dipshit. Learn how to fucking aim. And stop using me as a hacky sack." I muttered as I did my best to get snow out of my clothes, failing miserably.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I followed the two closely, and tuned everything out. The scenery was too close to one of Kaguya's realms for my comfort. I slipped my hand into Hisoka's hand and let him lead me around. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I didn't even realize that we were inside until someone shone a light in my eyes. I blinked and reared back when I noticed that this person is definitely not human. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A cute blue nose, light brown fur, two small antlers poking out of a pink hat, and two wide black eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Yep, It was Chopper.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Holy shit you’re the fucking cutest reindeer I've ever seen.” The kid squeaked and tried to hide behind the bedside table. He failed because most of his body was still visible. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Kid, That hiding position isn’t doing you any favors. If you really want to hide, you should cover your body with the thing you're hiding behind. And that position really doesn’t work unless the person you’re hiding from hasn’t noticed you yet.” I said, eyebrow twitching. The poor kid tried again to hide, and I just shook my head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“ ‘m not a kid.” I raised my eyebrow, looking at his tiny size.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, you’re definitely not 20. Anyone 19 and under is a kid in my eyes. Try saying that again when you’re older.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh yeah, and how old are you? 60?” The kid retorted. He was obviously trying to be sarcastic.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So close, kid. Only two years off, I’m 58.”  His jaw dropped, and the person beside me dissolved into a coughing fit. I looked over only to see that it was in fact not Hisoka’s hand that I had grabbed. Ace was doubling over on himself, coughing his lungs out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“EX-CUU-USE M-ME YOU'RE HOW OLD?”</b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I laughed at his face as he shook me violently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Biologically, I’m 29. But that’s just how old I was when I first died. Hisoka is 54.” I said. Ace froze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know. Hisoka and i just found it easier to say that he’s a year younger than me, and nobody else really commented on it.” I shrugged. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hisoka walked in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You really should put out the fire before you suffocate everyone in the castle.” I blinked at him before I realized that the fire in my lungs was still going. I used my chakra to smother the fire and breathed out the last of the smoke. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Better?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Much. Don’t do that again, I don't want to have to replace your lungs when you give yourself cancer.” I laughed in his face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hicchan, you know i don’t need organs. You never had to replace any of them in the first place.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I do, because you’re the type of monster who will just give away your organs and get upset when you have no more to give away.” Hisoka grumbled. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If anyone’s a monster, it’s you Hicchan. I may be violent, but you go beyond. You stitched me and Hidan together into a 2 headed freak because you got pissed at us.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t remind me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You stuck my arm on his ass, Hicchan. I may have married the guy, but that was just fucking weird. And I’ll never let you live it down.” I stared him in the eyes until he snorted and turned away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“OH! Did you get the stuff you wanted already?” I asked, tilting my head. He looked at me from over his shoulder.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I did. I had to pay for it, and for the doctor letting you stay here, but I got what i came for. I ended up making some traps for the castle in case the previous owner comes back, and I busted down the armory door, but I think I did good.” I nodded for a second before I realized what he just said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How fucking long was i out of it?!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A day and a half.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you wake me up?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I tried. You almost tore my face off.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh.Shit.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah.” We sat there in silence until Ace coughed, bringing our attention to him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We really should get going now, guys.” I nodded and got up, releasing his hand. I knelt down to Chopper’s height.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey Kid. What’s your name?” I asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Tony Tony Chopper.” He looked like he was challenging me, for what I have no idea.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s a nice name. I’m Suzuki. Do you think you could do something for us? If this pirate and his crew come through here, can you let him know that we’ll be in Alabasta for a few days? He’s Ace’s little brother, and we’re hoping that we can meet up with him before we have to move on.” I handed him Luffy’s bounty, and the kid puffed up his chest, nodding with determination clear in his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Good, because it’s really important to Ace. Hopefully we can meet again, Chopper.” I stood up and walked out, quickly followed by my two companions. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I raised an eyebrow at Ace when he grabbed my hand. All I got was a cheeky smile in return. I smirked and entwined our fingers, the flustered sputters he made were adorable. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When we reached the edge, I stepped aside to give Hisoka room. He bit his thumb and slammed his hands on the ground.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“SUMMONING JUTSU!” He yelled before a huge plume of smoke erupted from the seal that had formed under his hands. A giant black and gold raven emerged with a shake of his feathers, adjusting to the cold. He still held his head up proudly, even though both Hisoka and i know that if an ant so much as touched even a single feather of his, he would freak out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hisoka. What did you summon me here to this….. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wasteland</span>
  </em>
  <span> for?” Noriaki sneered at the cold surroundings.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You're the only summon who can fly that’s big enough to carry all three of us down from here. The next time I summon you, I promise I’ll get you some chicken eggs.” Hisoka promised, smoothing out the feathers on his neck.  The raven’s green eyes glittered greedily at the promise of the delicacy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Very well, I shall allow you to sit upon my back just this once. Do not make me regret this.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course not, Noriaki. I would never do such a thing to my beloved cousins favourite companion.” Hisoka crooned, and gestured for us to climb onto the massive raven’s back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace didn’t even hesitate, showing just how fast he got used to our brand of weirdness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I smiled once we were in the air. The wind all around me and the soft feathers under me will always be one of my favourite sensations in the world. I was actually rather disappointed when we landed, and gave Noriaki a hug before he dismissed himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He was kind of rude.” Ace said to himself after the raven was gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t mind him. He's as much of a dork as our cousin, he just hides it behind a prissy attitude.” I waved him off, hopping onto our skiff. I would be the one to direct us to Alabasta, because I'm the best with water release and it’s best that we get there early if we want to be able to stock up for crossing the desert.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Also, I just really want to see my kids again.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I lied.</p><p>Oops.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Let it be said that even though Suna is something I'm used to, Alabasta is the absolute worst in terms of heat. I will not be coming here very often in the future, even for vacation. Suna was bearable, hell, i’d walked around shirtless a few times and didn’t get sunburnt. Alabasta though, I was just as covered up as Kankuro. </p><p>We’ve been here for a few days, and I was starting to get worried about no one showing up. Of course, soon after thinking that, I was proven wrong. </p><p>Ace had decided that we needed to ask around for information on Luffy, and I agreed. It would be a good opportunity to ask after my family.  While Ace was talking to the man I remember him talking to in the anime, I went to another vendor and opened my bingo book to Deidara’s page.</p><p>“Have you seen this man? He’s my little brother, and we were supposed to meet up here after getting separated.” I asked, going to the people who looked like they’d be more sympathetic to my plight.</p><p>“No, I’m sorry sweetie.  I’m sure you can check with the cook in Spice Bean though. He’s your best bet as most people pass through his restaurant, so if your brother has been here, Kai is bound to have seen him.” The sweet old lady I had asked pointed me towards the restaurant that was bound to be destroyed by the end of the day.</p><p>“Thank you, miss. I’ll check there after my companions are done here. I hope you have a wonderful day.” I gave the lady my best smile as I shook her hand, before I went over to Ace and Hisoka.</p><p>"Hey guys, there's a place around here where we can get some food and find information on our families. It's called Spice Bean. Wanna check it out?" I tapped Ace's shoulder and pointed in the general direction of the restaurant. </p><p>"Yeah! I was getting hungry anyways." He smiled. Hicchan laughed.</p><p>"Cool, It's a date!" Ace flushed red when Hicchan linked arms with him. I threaded our fingers together and led them to the restaurant.</p><p>By the time we got there, Ace seemed more comfortable, though his cheeks were still pink.</p><p>We ended up sitting in the only three seats left at the bar. Ace of course ordered an inhuman amount of food.</p><p>“I’ll just have Katsudon, Thank you.” I smiled at the chef.</p><p>“Me too, It’ll be hard enough to keep up with Ace’s appetite as it is. No need to make something complicated for us as well.” Hicchan beamed, and I actually shielded my eyes.</p><p>“God, what the hell did you do to get teeth that bright? Eat the fucking sun?” I groaned and hid my face in my hands.</p><p>“Unlike you, i actually have a routine for taking care of myself.”</p><p>“Bah, routines are boring. Spice it up with some variety. Eat at 2 am, go to sleep at 8am, stab someone, drink whatever the hell you want.” I snorted.</p><p>“One of those things is not like the other….. And you wonder why people think you’re crazy.” Hicchan reached behind Ace and smacked the back of my head. I stuck my tongue out at him. Ace laughed.</p><p>Ace prattled on about all of his adventures as a kid to us between mouthfuls of food. While usually i would have been annoyed at someone talking with food in their mouth, it was just strangely endearing with Ace. He’s always so animated talking about Luffy, and it’s kinda sweet that he is so proud of his brother that he just forgoes breathing while talking.</p><p>“Luffy would probably get on like a house on fire with our brother Deidara. They both are kind of crazy, and are passionate about their dreams. And the mischief, can’t forget that.” Hicchan added to the conversation.</p><p>“Oh yeah? What’s his dream?” Ace asked.</p><p>“He wants to show the world his art. Mind you, his art tends to blow up on everyone, but that’s because he’s a little pyromaniac.” I huffed at the last part. What’s wrong with being a pyromaniac, Hicchan?</p><p>“Sounds like my kind-” And down he goes. I caught his head before he face-planted in his rice. I pulled him over and slung my arm over his shoulder to keep him from falling off his chair. </p><p>Meanwhile, everyone around us freaked out.</p><p>
  <em>“He just keeled over.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Did he eat a desert strawberry?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“His poor friends…” </em>
</p><p>“Hicchan, I thought you had him on medication to help with this?” I asked.</p><p>“He’s stubborn about taking them. Yesterday I had to shove them down his throat because he refused to take them” Hicchan shrugged.</p><p>“Hn.”</p><p>“Hnn.” I stared at him before nodding. Hicchan raised a fist and-</p><p>
  <em>THUNK!</em>
</p><p>“OW! WHAT THE HELL HISOKA!” Ace snapped at my brother, rubbing the lump on his forehead.</p><p>“Hn. That’s what you get for ignoring doctor’s orders.” Hicchan grunted. </p><p>“YOU WERE JUST ASLEEP?!” The cook yelled while everyone else behind us fell over.</p><p>“Has no one heard of narcolepsy?” I raised an eyebrow. Ace continued eating, only to fall over again. Hicchan stopped him this time and I stole his hat, putting it on my head.</p><p>“Oh yeah, Have you seen these two? One wears a straw hat and the other keeps his hair in a ponytail.” Ace handed the bounty poster of Luffy to the chef, and I slid Deidara’s page over.</p><p>People started to shuffle out, muttering under their breaths.</p><p>“I’m impressed you’re bold enough to eat out in public, Second Division Commander of The Whitebeard Pirates. Portgas D. Ace.” I looked over my shoulder to see Smoker. </p><p>“Wh-Whitebeard?! The Whitebeard Pirates?!” Cook yelled.</p><p>“<em>Those dimwits are part of the Whitebeard Pirates?</em>!” Someone yelled.</p><p>
  <em>“Come to think of it, I have seen that mark on their backs before! That’s the mark of the Whitebeard Pirates! What are they doing here?”</em>
</p><p>“What’s a famous, big-shot pirate like Fire-Fist Ace doing in this country?” I glared at the grey haired man.</p><p>“Can you fuck off, Smokey? We’re on a date.”</p><p>“Yeah, go away Cancer Sticks. You’re ruining our date with your justice.” Hicchan waved him off.</p><p>Smoker blinked at us incredulously for a moment.</p><p>“...What?”</p><p>“We’re on a date, fucker. Fuck off unless you have something important to say.” I snarked at him.</p><p>“Go before my sister decides the pros of not having a bounty are outweighed by the cons of not punching you in the face.” Hicchan warned.</p><p>I turned and saw someone coming at a speed that’s not normally possible.</p><p>“GUM GUM-” I grabbed Ace’s shoulder and pulled him towards me, leaning to the side and kicking Hicchan’s chair.</p><p>“ROCKET!” We fell out of the way of a flying Luffy and avoided Smoker’s fate of going flying through <em>at least</em> 7 different walls.</p><p>“A FOOD PLACE! I FINALLY FOUND ONE! NOW I CAN EAT! I’M STARVING! OLD GUY! FOOD! FOOD! FOOD! ON THE DOUBLE!” Luffy yelled and took Ace’s old seat. I blinked at the rubber man.</p><p>“Hey Ace, That’s Luffy right?” I poked the man in the shoulder, trying to nudge him off of my other arm.</p><p>“Huh? Oh! Hey Luffy!” Ace sat up and stood beside his younger brother. </p><p>Luffy looked at his brother with a mouth full of food.</p><p>“Oh, Hi Ace! Who’re these people?” </p><p>“We’re his crewmates. I’m Hisoka, and this is my sister Suzuki. Ace’s told us all about you.” Hicchan stuck his hand out to shake Luffy’s, but Luffy just kept on eating. </p><p>I got up and looked at the hole Smoker made. I saw him getting up, so I turned to Luffy, grabbed his mouth and shoved as much food as I could into his mouth before throwing him over my shoulder.</p><p>“We need to go now, Smokestack over there is gonna be pissed that you threw him through that wall. No time to waste! Byethankyouforthefood!” I yelled and ran, Hicchan right behind me.</p><p>Behind us, a tornado of smoke and fire rose up. The heat, while usually comforting, was now a cause for concern and I just ran faster. I made it halfway across the town before I stopped and looked around.</p><p>“Which way, which way do we go?” I muttered.</p><p>“Mom?” I whipped around only to see my Gaara standing in front of me.</p><p>“Gaara? Um… No time to talk, gotta find the ship.”</p><p>“That way!” Luffy pointed in the direction we quite literally just came from.</p><p>Sand coiled under my feet and lifted all four of us into the air.</p><p>“Thanks hun!” I smiled at him.</p><p>“Huh? Gaara, this is your mom?” Luffy asked, his neck stretching to look behind him. </p><p>“Yes Captain, She’s my mom. She’s the one that i said that i wanted to meet up with here.” Gaara gave a rare smile.</p><p>“Of course you’d end up on Ace’s little brother’s crew Gaara. Only you.” I laughed with Hicchan.</p><p>“Jiraiya-sensei and Shukaku taught me well.” Gaara nodded sagely, using his sand to direct us to the Going Merry. I could practically hear Shukaku cackling evilly in Gaara’s seal, so instead I put Luffy down and stepped into Gaara’s personal space.</p><p>“Your hair is a rats nest! Do you even take a brush to it in the mornings? And you’ve got dirt on your face!” I licked my thumb and rubbed away a smear of dirt on his nose. I fussed with his hair, trying to get all the knots out. Hicchan and Luffy both snickered behind me. Gaara just smiled and let me do my thing. And then we were on the Going Merry and everyone was staring at us.</p><p>“Mom, I’m fine. I’ll take better care of my appearance.”</p><p>“You better, Gaara. Or I’ll get your sister on your ass.”</p><p>“MOM?!” I turned to see the crew with their jaws dropped.</p><p>“Oh! Hi Chopper!” I waved at the little reindeer.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sanji is fucking annoying. I love him, he’s a fine kid, but he’s fucking annoying when his flirting is directed at you. When he got over Gaara calling me mom, he was suddenly all over me. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Hicchan tried to stab me, he suddenly got all offended and tried to kick my brother off the ship.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck is your problem, kid. It’s just a little stab, no need to get all pissy about it. It’s just the Cain instinct taking over. Gotta beat the shit outta each other or else he gets all huffy.” I hauled the blonde away from my brother by his collar before going back to Hicchan. I stabbed him in the kidney.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You little brat.” Hicchan snarled and went for my throat, but was stopped by Ace returning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You both are idiots, how the hell haven’t you both killed each other yet?” Ace said fondly, taking his hat back from me and putting it on his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You love us anyways.” Hicchan said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cute.” Ace drawled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever you say, Shortstack.” I grinned down at the man.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s not my fault you’re so goddamned tall. Stop growing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think I will.” I rested my head on his, grinning smugly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is Luffy’s big brother? But he’s so….” Nami trailed off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Un-Luffy-like?” I asked. She nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh, he’s just polite. He’s still a complete dork.” I shrugged. Ace flicked my nose, I stuck my tongue out at him. And then I saw the billions ships coming around the cliff</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll take care of this, boys. You can have the next ones.” I said before forming my chakra into multiple fireballs, all hovering over the ships. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Katon: Gōenka.” I said before all the fireballs came falling on the ships. I could hear the screams of the billions in the ships trying to escape fire raining down on all of the ships. Soon, all the ships went up in flames, not a single place left free of the fire. Then they blew up, because that’s what happens when you keep barrels of gunpowder on your ship and your ship gets set on fire.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the hell, Suchan. That was overkill.” Hicchan smacked the back of my head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I am an Uchiha, what did you expect me to do? I’m a pyromaniac, just as all of our predecessors were pyromaniacs.” I smiled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are an idiot.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gee, thanks. Really feeling the love here brother.” I deadpanned. And Sanji was back at my side with hearts in his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re the most gorgeous lady I've ever set eyes on, I’d be happy to-” He started to flirt, but I put my hand on his face and pushed him away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You are so not my type, cook. Plus, you’re a kid.” I sighed as I shooed him away.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, please stop flirting with my mother. It’s disturbing.” Gaara added as he sat next to me on the railings. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you actually Gaara’s mom?” Vivi asked. I smiled at her and shook my head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, I kidnapped him and his siblings after witnessing an attempted assassination on Gaara sent by his own father.” I smiled even as everyone around me fell over in shock.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What kind of father does that to his own kid?” Zoro muttered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The kind who cares more about his country than his own children. Mom helped me get better after what Rasa did to us, and for that I'll always be thankful.” Gaara smiled softly at me, and my heart just melted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“C’mere you big softie.” I said and pulled him into a hug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’re you guys doing in Alabasta of all places, anyways?” Nami asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Well, a former crewmate tried to murder one of our friends. Suzuki managed to injure him before he fled, so now we’re trying to track him down. Thought we’d look up our families while we were here.” Ace said from where he sat on the deck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So, what're you guys doing traveling through Alabasta with Princess Vivi of all people?” I asked, pointing lazily at the blue haired princess.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh! We’re gonna fight Crocodile.” Luffy said, ignoring the fact that everyone else, besides Zoro, was trying to deny Vivi’s identity.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cool! We’ll tag along with you guys then. I’ve been wanting to fight the croc for awhile and just didn’t have a good reason to make the journey. Besides, I wanna catch up with my kid.” I glared at Ace when he tried to protest.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“But Teach-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ace, you haven’t seen your little brother in HOW long? And you want to hunt Teach? I can guarantee that Hicchan and I will be able to find him wherever that shitstain tries to hide.” I cut him off and he sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, mom has one of the most expansive spy networks I have ever seen. Only Jiraiya-sensei can beat her.” Gaara boasted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Every kid thinks the world of their parents and wants to boast to their friends. Gaara is no different. Even though he’s not a kid anymore. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hicchan decided that right then was the best moment to snap my neck.</span>
</p><p>
  <b>“WHAT THE FUCK HICCHAN?!”</b>
  <span> I roared as my neck sagged under the weight of my head. I glared at the little shit even as Nami, Vivi, and Usopp screamed in horror. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ace blinked at me before he poked the side of my face, causing my head to roll to the other side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Huh. I kind of thought you were joking about being immortal. Apparently not.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I fixed my head and waited for my neck to heal enough for me to be able to move. Once I was sure that my neck wouldn’t impede my movement, I lunged at Hicchan, knocking us both over the railing and onto the water.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>You little shit. I’m going to fucking slaughter you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” I growled as I wrestled with him on the water's surface.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Try it, Suchan.”</span>
  </em>
  <span> He snarled as he kicked me away. I skidded to a halt before I unsealed my scythe, and Hicchan brought out his yari.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I swung as low as I could and managed to get the blade stuck in his fibula. I yanked to the side and knocked his feet out from under him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He retaliated by shoving his yari straight into my gut, yanking up in an attempt to split me open. It got stuck in one of my lower ribs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I snarled and ripped myself off of the blade, not caring that he had practically disembowelled me and that I was leaving bits of my intestines behind. I lunged at him, swinging my scythe at his side and pulling him closer to me. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He slammed the smaller blade on the end into my face as I snapped my jaws at his face. He snarled and did the same, latching his teeth into my shoulder. Before I could sink my teeth into something sensitive, like his ear, he blocked with his arm, growling around the mouthful of blood. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Unlike my brother, I am not squeamish enough to stop at drawing blood and instead tore the chunk of his forearm off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I had intended to spit the hunk of tendons and flesh back at him, but some animal part of my brain took over and I fucking swallowed it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everything froze as I struggled to process what I had just done. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hicchan let go of me as he too realized what I had done, and he stared at me in shock, pressing his hand to the gaping hole in his wrist to stop the bleeding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you just…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I did.” We stared at each other and then he kicked me in the face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?</b>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“THIS ISN'T THE FIRST TIME I’VE DONE SHIT LIKE THIS, I THOUGHT YOU KNEW BETTER!” I yelled as he kicked me repeatedly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“THAT WAS WITH ENEMIES, NOT YOUR OWN BROTHER YOU BRAT. I THOUGHT IT WOULD’VE BEEN HARDER FOR YOU TO BITE THROUGH FLESH THAN MY GODDAMNED EAR!” He yelled at me, steam almost pouring out of his ears. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’M SORRYYYYYYYY!” I wailed. Hicchan growled and dragged me back to the Going Merry. He threw me up onto the deck.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I wallowed in my self pity and just laid there face down on the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did you do?” Ace asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I aft thim</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” I grumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“She ate my wrist.” Hicchan held up his wrist to show the wound that he was slowly patching up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What the fuck.”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“I DIFINT MEEN FOO!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” I wailed into the wood. Gaara sat beside me and patted my back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I believe you.” he reassured me.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I just screamed into the ground.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Heya! I’m Captain Rice Ball Usopp! Oh! And who are you?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m a riceman!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Quit playing with our food! If you got free time, go wash dishes or something!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I giggled at the kids' antics as Sanji slammed a frying pan and wok down on the two boys' heads. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Geez! I need to finish our packed meals before we cross the river!” Sanji walked away, rolling up his sleeves.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Need a hand?” Ace asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, no. You are a guest on board. Just sit back and relax.” Sanji went to work.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t bother packing meals for us, Sanji. Suchan has all of our meals planned out and stored for us.”  Sanji turned to us.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you mean? There’s no possible way for you to be able to store food on that tiny little boat.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I rolled up my sleeve, revealing the intricate storage seal tattoo on my bicep. I slammed my hand on the middle and pulsed my chakra. A scroll appeared in my hand. I opened it and unrolled it. There were twenty slots under each name. I pulsed chakra into the first slot under my name and a full meal appeared out of the smoke. I resealed it and put the scroll back into its spot. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have 5 scrolls like that in there. Enough for each of us to live comfortably for a few months without any more necessary rationing. Food doesn't go bad in the seals because it’s basically in stasis. I have seals for anything that we need to store. Hicchan and I both have tiny seals in between our fingers for larger weapons. Personal things are kept in seals in the crook of our elbows for easy access. It was Deidara's idea to use seals like this so that we don’t need to carry packs, and the stuff that we do carry is just space for more seals. No one can break into them because they're keyed to us, so I don’t have to worry about anyone stealing our stuff.” I explained, while Sanji looked almost jealous. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Which, understandable. A cook would have so many uses for storage seals, and it’s kind of disappointing that only people with chakra can use them, or else I'd definitely get Deidara to draw a few seals up for Sanji.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t wash the dishes in that mop bucket!” He yelled at Luffy and Usopp, and I laughed before slipping outside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I went and sat on the railing, closing my eyes and enjoying the sea breeze. Even when the boat stopped for Karoo to leave and deliver the letter to Cobra, I didn't move. I was way too comfy where I was sitting for that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace and Zoro stood a little bit to my left.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I knew Crocodile was in this country….But a pirate trying to steal a country? That sounds like a bad joke. A pirate dropping anchor in one place and settling down? Don’t tell me he’s trying to usurp the throne.” I hummed lowly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I imagine he believes there to be some sort of treasure or weapon here that he can use to further his plans. Don’t know what would be powerful enough for a warlord to be interested enough to settle in a desert country, but i believe we’ll find out soon enough.” I said, startling Ace.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“ALRIGHT! LET'S SET SAIL!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“HOLD ON! I’M NOT ON BOARD YET!” Usopp yelled, and I couldn't help but laugh.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh god, these kids are a riot. Pops very well might try to adopt them if they ever meet.” I told Ace, and he laughed too. Zoro scoffed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Luffy will never agree to that, He wants to be the Pirate King.” I nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I know, but that won’t stop Pops from secretly thinking of you guys as his kids. Ace is one of his, and so am I.  Because of our relationships with your crewmates, you guys are already honorary Whitebeards. Deny it all you want, nothing stops Edward ‘Whitebeard’ Newgate’s love.” I said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“With that logic, all of Uzushio are now honorary Whitebeards. Looks like the cavalry just gained another hundred members.” Hicchan said as he walked up the stairs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Considering the fact that Orochimaru claimed me as his kid, I’m pretty sure there’ll be at least one custody battle before Tsunade-hime intervenes. But after that? I’m sure literally everyone from our home island will join up. And won’t that be a treat.” I smiled at my brother. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was a little while until anyone else spoke, too content with the quiet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re finally going into the desert! I bet It’ll be hot…” Chopper said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It gets over 50C in the daytime!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“EH!? IT DOES?!” Chopper yelled, and I sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, Chopper! You can ride on my back if you want. I have a way to keep you cool, if that’ll help.” I yelled down to the young reindeer. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eh? Thanks Suzuki-chan!” Chopper smiled up at me. I did finger guns at him, winking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Sanji yelled about the girls outfits, I looked over, only to see him rolling around on the ground. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>While everyone else got changed, Hicchan and I started some leg stretches.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“ALRIGHT! LET’S LAND!” Luffy yelled. Everyone got ready to disembark, but we kept on stretching. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The dugongs appeared, but we ignored everyone talking about the Turtle-seal hybrids, until Usopp got beat up and Luffy won against one of them. Then we walked over to see them for ourselves. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright, everyone! After me! Stance!” I watched Luffy yell at the Dugongs as they copied his every move. It was entertaining to say the least. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“ALRIGHT! Let’s set out for Yuba!” Luffy yelled, all the Dugongs lined up behind him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hold up… You’re bringing them with us?!” Zoro yelled at a grinning Luffy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I hopped down and crouched in front of the Dugongs. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You can’t come across the desert with us, little guys. You’re ocean critters, it’ll be too dangerous for you. However, we are in need of a guard for the ship because these guys pissed off some important people. Do you think you could keep watch for us, and move the ship further up river if some marines or people calling themselves billions come looking for us? It’d really help your master out.” I said to the Dugongs. They froze and looked at each other before they saluted and jumped back into the water. I stood and sighed, straightening to full height.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let’s go before they change their minds and try to follow us.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>We went on our way, Hicchan and I walking hand in hand near the back and idly listening to Gaara talk about his new crew.  When Vivi stopped, it was clear that she had seen what had happened to the previously gorgeous city. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s this?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is this the town of Yuba?” Luffy asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No… This is Erumalu. It used to be known as The City of Green…” Vivi sounded slightly distracted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“City of Green?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>She turned to us. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“The sight of this town explains everything. What the Baroque Works organization has done to this country...What the people of Alabasta are going through..” It really was such a pity that a place like this became ruins because of Crocodile’s disregard for the people who lived there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wow! There’s nothing here at all!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, it’s a ghost town now. But up until just recently, it was a thriving city full of greenery!” Vivi explained.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> Zoro kicked a tree, and I smacked him in the back of the head as I passed him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Be more respectful, idiot.” I stopped him from yelling at me, leaving him grumbling behind me.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Rain was always scarce, but even so, the city was able to manage by saving every last drop of rain water it could. But, for three years now, not a single drop of rain has fallen in any part of this country.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“For three years?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That long?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But even without rain, what about that river we just crossed?” Zoro asked and Usopp agreed. I stopped listening to her explanation, as this wasn’t the first time I’ve heard this. I zoned back in when Sanji started repeatedly kicking Luffy in the head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course, my father had nothing to do with it, but at around the same time, a massive amount of Dance Powder was found inside the palace…”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“There was a rat. Someone from Baroque Works most likely infiltrated the palace guard and brought it there to frame Cobra. It’s something that happened regularly where I’m from, but it was mostly sabotage from other countries during war times, not from your own heroes.” I said, startling everyone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where are you from, Suzuki-chan?” Chopper asked. I smiled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t actually know where it’d be on a map, but we were from a country called Konoha, but we moved to a small island called Uzushio when we were 10. There were many countries there, although I’m still not sure about the exact number. There were only a few islands there, so the storm that picked us up likely brought us from an undiscovered area in the Grand Line or the South Blue.” I mused, scratching at a spot on my cheek.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“OH! You’re from a mystery island!” Luffy nodded like that made perfect sense, and to the kids it probably did. I just smiled and nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, probably. I’m pretty sure Uzushio was alive. It had this weird aura, everything reacted to you, including the plants and buildings. If you had no ill intent towards the citizens, you could come and go freely, but someone tried to enter to kill our village leader and… let’s just say that otters can be vicious.” Hicchan shuddered. I nodded. We still sometimes found bits of the poor man. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>We continued walking, and I shuddered at the dust storm, and the sound the wind made running through the abandoned ruins. Gaara’s sand came up around us, keeping the windswept sand from getting in our faces and hindering our sight.  </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>We left Erumalu behind us.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter 9</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Another double update! Man, i am on a roll!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Burning up… Sweat won’t even come out….” Luffy moaned, panting and hunched over.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I giggled and formed some hand signs, channeling chakra and letting a small trickle of water fall from my finger. I offered my hand to Luffy, who latched onto my entire hand. I sweat dropped at that but let him. The poor kid would drink all of our water if I didn't. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nami looked like she was going to say something but thought better of it. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks Suchan!” Luffy grinned at me and I cut the jutsu.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Normally, I would have scolded the boy for using that name when it was reserved only for Hicchan, Chiasa, Deidara and Shicchan, but I know it’s kind of useless to try to get him to remember your actual name at first.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Instead, I went up to Ace and wiped the slobber from Luffy all over his shirt.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your brother, you get to deal with his slobber.” Chopper giggled in my ear. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thanks for keeping me cool, Suzuki-chan.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No problem, I know how hard getting used to a different climate is.” I continued walking.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You don’t seem to be having a hard time, Vivi-chan, Gaara.” Sanji said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was born and raised here, so it doesn’t bother me much.” Vivi said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was born in a desert country, so the heat doesn't bother me at all.”  Gaara said, and that was that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But what’s with all these hills? I figured a desert would be more flat.” Usopp asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is a very old desert, so some sand dunes are over 300 meters high.” Vivi said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“300 meters h-high? No wonder it’s like climbing mountains...” Usopp cried.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s because of the wind, Usopp. Wind blows the loose sand and it eventually creates the dunes over time. It makes sense that a desert as old as this one would have dunes as big as these.” I explained. </span>
</p>
<p><span>We continued walking, and it was starting to drop in temperature so I slipped my hand into Ace’s and bumped shoulders with him. Hicchan sidled up on Ace’s other side, doing the exact same thing. </span> Chopper slipped off of my back and continued by himself because it was cold enough that he wasn’t going to suffer a heat stroke.</p>
<p>
  <span>We gave each other a cheeky smirk over Ace’s head, while Ace just smiled fondly and squeezed my hand. From the way Hicchan’s smile widened, Ace had done the same to him as well. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We should probably settle down at the next outcropping of rocks. Soon, It’ll be too dark for us to continue.” Nami said, and everyone agreed with that, especially Luffy’s stomach.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When we set up camp, Hicchan and I went and set up a perimeter. Not that we would really need it, but it is an ingrained habit that comes with being a ninja. We got a few strange looks from Usopp and Vivi for that, but other than that we were left alone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace started a fire for everyone, and Sanji started on making dinner. I decided to wait 'til the food was done before unsealing our food so that Luffy wouldn’t steal any of our meals.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t be so greedy! Don’t eat that yet, it’s still raw!” Nami exclaimed when Luffy tried to steal some meat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nami-san! Just a minute, It’ll be ready soon!” Sanji called.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh! Looks pretty good!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Get away, you!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh c’mon cheapskate! Let us eat!” Luffy whined</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Get away!” Sanji yelled. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace looked kind of worried about something, so I scooted up to his side and draped myself over him, poking him in the cheek and playfully pouting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Someone’s grumpy. What’s up, Aaace?” I dragged the vowel out, practically purring his name in his ear. He shuddered, and I grinned at the pink flush on his face. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s nothing, just lost in my thoughts.” He tried to wave me off, but it’s not that easy to get rid of me. I growled playfully and nipped at the shell of his ear. He yelped and turned his face to look at me, his face turning bright red.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I grinned at him, and he gave me an actual smile as well, although not as big as the ones he usually gives.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It must be a real surprise for you.” We looked up to see Vivi.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I mean Luffy-san. I was surprised too, at first. Maybe it’s that he isn’t captain-like, or that normal pirate captains are respected by their crewmates… But.. But you know, the longer I’ve been with them, the more I've come to understand.” Vivi said, looking at the 4 boys who were making fools of themselves.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s how Luffy does things.” Ace said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh?” Vivi turned to us.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He hasn’t changed a bit since he was a kid. Despite how he seems, people always gather around him. Even though he’s my little brother, he has a mysterious charm to him.” Ace said, his hat tilted over his eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He’s like my little cousin, Naruto. Naruto has always been able to talk anyone into being his friend, and people just seemed to gravitate to him. I’m sure you’ll get to meet him some time, and you’ll be surprised at how many similarities there are between Luffy and Naruto. Naruto actually punched another one of my cousins into being his friend. It was honestly hilarious.” I laughed.  Vivi gave me a curious look.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. You already knew.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He and I do go way back. But thanks.” Ace was obviously joking with her, and I snickered into his neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eh?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You were worried that I was concerned, right?” Ace asked and Vivi nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It seems I never needed to worry though.” She said and looked up at the stars.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hicchan came over and sat beside Ace’s other side, throwing his legs over Ace’s. I threw a leg over and entangled our limbs together. I grabbed Ace’s hand and brought it up to my mouth, pressing a light kiss to his knuckles. I laid my head on his chest and Hicchan pulled us both closer to him. Ace’s head dropped and suddenly he was snoring. We fell asleep that way.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When I woke up, it was to Ace struggling to get out of our grasp. Hicchan was curled around his head, legs wrapped around his chest, while my arms were wrapped around his hips with my head resting on Hicchan’s knee. My legs were tangled with Ace’s and it’s a wonder we didn’t accidentally strangle the poor man in his sleep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I hummed and nuzzled my face into his stomach.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“G’morning.” I stretched, groaning at the odd kink in my back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Morning sleeping beauty.” He smiled before grimacing at the odd angle his neck had been in.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Woah! I found a shrimp!” Luffy yelled, and it startled Hicchan awake, causing him to knee me in my face. I groaned and rolled away, holding my nose.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, that’s one way to wake up.” Ace chuckled and sat up, patting my side.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Vivi yelled at Luffy to throw away the scorpion. He eventually did. I sighed and buried my face in Ace’s coat. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Dun wanna get uuup……” I groaned and Hicchan sighed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace’s stomach decided to make itself known, so Hicchan took the liberty of unsealing a meal for each of us before we had to go. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh? Chopper? Is something wrong?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Something is coming.” The little reindeer said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh? Is the wind picking up?” Ace got up, ignoring my protests. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Everyone! Hide behind the rocks! A Storm! A Sandstorm is coming!” Vivi yelled at us. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A large pulse of energy was all the warning I got before Gaara released Shukaku from his seal.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“MMHAAHA! FINALLY YOU LET ME OUT GAARA!”  Shukaku let out a shrieking laugh, even as his back was battered by the wind.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“YO SHUKAKU! HOW ARE YOU?” I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled up at the tanuki, projecting my voice using chakra.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He turned his yellow eyes on my smaller form and narrowed his eyes, trying to see me properly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“SUZUKI-CHAN! YOUR KID HASN’T BEEN LETTING ME OUT TO STRETCH VERY OFTEN. DO YOU KNOW HOW CRAMPED HIS MIND IS? IT ISN’T ENOUGH SPACE FOR THE GREAT SHUKAKU.” He boomed, and I laughed even as Vivi looked like she was about to faint, Zoro and Sanji looked like they were going to attack the tanuki, Chopper was hiding, Usopp was standing in front of Nami, even though his legs looked ready to give out, and Luffy like he was seeing the coolest thing since sliced bread.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I KNOW, DEAR. HOW ABOUT THE NEXT TIME GAARA LETS YOU OUT, YOU AND I SHARE SOME SAKE? I GOT SOME NEW STUFF THAT I THINK YOU’LL LIKE!” I yelled, and the tanuki boomed with his signature shrieking laughter, which was honestly not fun to listen to, it hurt my ears. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“YOU ALWAYS KNOW WHAT TO SAY, SUZUKI! THIS IS WHY I LET GAARA KEEP YOU AROUND!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“SHUKAKU, YOU ARE MY UNCLE. I’M PRETTY SURE YOU COULDN’T GET RID OF ME IF YOU TRIED.” I yelled back, and everyone turned to look at me.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why are you related to a monster?” Usopp asked me.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Our family tree is really fucked up. He’s actually my however-many-greats-grand-uncle. Still not sure why we decided to count the tailed beasts, but eh. If Kakashi can be their uncle, they can be our uncles and aunts as well.” I shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“SO COOL! CAN YOU POOP?” Luffy yelled up at Shukaku. I blinked at the boy. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What the fuck.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>I breathed and nudged Ace with my elbow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, I don’t know either.” He sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“WHAT? NO. THAT STUFF IS FOR MORTALS. DO I LOOK AS LOWLY AS ONE OF YOU PUNY ANTS?” Shukaku bellowed, and Luffy laughed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“SHUKAKU!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“YES SUZUKI?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“THANK YOU!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Shukaku sputtered before falling silent. He had a very visible blush though. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Huh. It seems I need to compliment and thank the Biju more, if a single thank you throws him off that much.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As soon as the storm passed, Shukaku disappeared back into Gaara’s seal. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I-i forgot to mention it earlier, but Sandstorms are one of the deserts dangers.” Vivi stuttered out. Obviously, Shukaku was not a common sight. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Vivi, is there anything else we need to know about the dangers of the Alabastan desert? We know of desert strawberries, hallucinogenic cactus water, and sandstorms. Is there anything else we should know of, just so that chopper and I are prepared in case of injury.” Hicchan said. She froze before her brow furrowed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Bandit birds, and um… Sandora Dragons. How did you know about the cactus water?” She asked Hicchan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s something from back home. We were taught to never drink cactus water because it can give you diarrhea, but also because most cactuses produce hallucinogens as a defense mechanism. We simply thought it’d be the same here.” Hicchan explained. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, well. Okay then. If you find a group of white birds lying on the ground, you should ignore them, or else they’ll get away with all of your stuff. And there are monsters beneath the sand. They usually hunt in pairs, so be aware.” She said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I know Luffy got absolutely none of that, so we’ll probably still get to meet Eyelash. Also, Vivi forgot some things, which I’m not mentioning just so we get more of a chance to meet the perverted camel.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once we managed to get all the stuff packed back up, we were off once again.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter 10</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Hey! Sanji! Let’s have a lunch! A pirate boxed lunch!” Luffy pleaded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Not yet. Not until Vivi-chan says so.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come on, Vivi! Let’s eat! I’m out of strength!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But we’re only a tenth of the way to Yuba, Luffy-san.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re dumb. Haven't you heard of this proverb? ‘If you’re hungry, eat.’” Luffy said, dead serious.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You liar! Quit making stuff up!” Usopp whined.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hypocrite</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Hicchan muttered under his breath, earning a snort from Zoro.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, then what do you say we take a break at the next rocks we find?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright! Rocks!” Luffy yelled. Before he could do anything, I grabbed him and put a hiraishin kunai in one of the packs on his back. He gave me a confused look, so I shoved him forwards a bit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know you want to run ahead. That will make sure that I can get us to you if need be. Hicchan has its twin, so you can just run ahead now.” AAAAnd he’s gone.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stop enabling him, Suzuki-chan.” Sanji said, and I just smirked at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nah, I don't think I will.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And he’s back, without his pack.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Aight, imma go and get your pack back before those birds steal all of your stuff. I know for a fact you didn’t listen to Vivi’s explanation." Chopper slipped off my back.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I located the marker, teleporting on top of the birds who were rifling through the pack.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What do you think you’re doing, sweetheart?” I leered at the birds as they flailed under me. One of them managed to get away, so I grabbed the marker and threw it at the bird. I was aiming to pin it against the wall by the prongs, but the kunai sunk into its neck, hot blood spilling over it’s pure white feathers. It spasmed where it was pinned to the wall before falling still. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I turned back to the birds, even as Hicchan appeared with everyone at the dead bird.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’d be careful if I were you, birdies, or else what I just did to your friend over there will also become your fate. Leave, and leave the luggage or we’ll all be having poultry for lunch.” I slowly backed away and all of the birds took off in a flurry of feathers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mom….Why?” Gaara asked as he held up the corpse of the bird.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Theft gets consequences. I didn’t mean to do that, but oh well.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“THEY TRICKED ME! GET BACK HERE!” Luffy yelled and took off after the birds as they fled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Luffy-san! Don’t chase after them!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That idiot.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about him. He’ll find his way back, eventually.” I said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, let’s just get lunch started. I’m hungry.” Zoro said, everyone else agreed. Sanji started a fire, and I unsealed our food. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Today we’ve got soba and tamagoyaki. Ace, I honestly just threw a mishmash of things together for you because you eat so much more than we do.”  I said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s okay! Anything you make is delicious, Suzuki.” He grinned at me, and I just about dropped my bento because that was just adorable.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s taking Luffy so long?!” Usopp whined, and that seems to be something he does a lot. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>God, I can't wait for his confidence boost. Too bad that’s a bit away from now.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah. Do you think he got lost?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Knowing what I do about him, he probably got in a fight with something.” Hicchan said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Y’know, isn't he hungry from not eating? You’d think he would’ve stayed to have lunch.” Sanji mused. I just shook my head and leaned against Ace.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Sanji and Zoro got up, probably to go find Luffy when a bunch of sand in the distance got kicked up and the ground shook.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s this rumbling?” Usopp asked, and everyone stared at the sand cloud.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Another sandstorm?!” He asked as he used his goggles to try to get a better look at the cause.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, wait, that’s!- Luffy!” He yelled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, it couldn’t be!.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why is he on a camel?” Nami asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who’re those people with him?” Okay, excuse me what?</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I stood up and looked at the sand cloud, trying to see who the other people were. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Four heads of different colors were racing neck-in-neck beside Eyelash, and all of them were familiar.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Is that-” I started to ask.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s that chasing them?!” Sanji asked, prepared for a fight.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can’t really see. But it seems like something’s in the sand.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The giant ass purple lizard burst out of the sand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“IT’S HUGE!” Usopp and Chopper yelled, eyes bugging out of their heads.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A Sandora dragon!” Vivi exclaimed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“He really does have a gift for attracting trouble, doesn’t he?” Ace asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I have a feeling that the dragon isn’t there for Luffy, but for those four. Jashin-sama give me strength, all of my family are idiots.” I sighed and cupped my hands around my mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“SACCHAN! YOU TRAINED UNDER TSUNADE-HIME FOR A REASON! JUST PUNCH IT!” I yelled at the pinkette. She stumbled for a second before spinning on her heel and-</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>“CHAA!” </b>
  <span>She punched the thing in the nose and destroyed its skull. It crumpled to the ground in a heap. The other five continued running towards us.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A second one rose up behind us, and I stepped away.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ace did a really stupid thing and fucking jumped into it’s mouth. For a second things were quiet, and then the thing was burnt into a crisp.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“MOM! GAARA! WE FOUND YOUUUUU!” Naruto yelled and bowled me over in a bear hug.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You brat! I’m not your mom, I’m your cousin!” I snapped at the blonde even as I gave him a noogie. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“WHY ARE THERE TWO SUZUKIS?” Chopper yelled as he looked between me and Sasuke, who came up to me. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I took one look at his hair and went full parent mode.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Who let you do this to your hair? Was it Kakashi? Don’t impair your sight, Sakkun. You are an Uchiha, you should only do that if you need to hide your line of sight. And you haven’t been washing your hair! It’s so greasy, ewww. Don’t worry, we’ll fix that up in a jiffy.” I combed my fingers through his hair in an effort to get it to cooperate. I fixed his part and pulled his bangs away from his eye, but froze when I remembered the Rinnegan.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah, yeah. I guess that is a distinguishing feature. But you know how to deactivate that hun, why are you keeping it on constantly? You’ll go blind in that eye if you don’t give it a break.” I pulled his hair out of his face anyways. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hn.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t you Hn at me, young man. Just because it’s useful doesn’t mean you should make yourself blind.” I scolded. He frowned but the purple rings disappeared, leaving just the onyx eye in its stead. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mom. You left. We had to find you. The Rinnegan was a necessary tool.” He said. I cuffed him on the back of the head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“ Stop that, I’m not your mom. Next thing you know, Itachi is gonna start calling me mom. That’d be weird. He’s older than me.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Temari is the same age as you, and you let her call you mom.” He pointed out. I pressed a finger to his mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shush you. Let me fix your hair.” I made a small water dragon run through his hair, pulling all the excess oils out and leaving him with slightly damp hair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is why people think you’re actually Sakkun’s mom. You do shit like this.” Hicchan elbowed me. I scowled at him and stabbed him in the ribs.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Maa, So this is what you’ve been doing Suzuki. Running around playing pirate.” Kakashi hummed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh shut it, like you are any better. You read porn in broad daylight. You’re doing it right now, uncle.” I kicked him in the shin.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“ Uncle? Is this Shukaku’s Uncle as well?” Ace asked. I nodded, smiling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yup!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You let Shukaku out with all these people, Gaara? Wow! You must really trust them.” Naruto laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course. They are my nakama. And Ace is Mom’s nakama.” Gaara said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mom! Thanks for reminding me of my training. I wasn’t really thinking straight.” Sakura rubbed the back of her neck. I groaned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mebuki is going to kill me. You are going to be the death of me, kid.” She just laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh? And who is this lovely flower?” Sanji floated over, only to be punched away by two angry overprotective younger brothers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Leave Sacchan alone, pervert!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I can protect myself, boys.” Sakura sighed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“At least you know they care for you.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, At least they aren’t trying to kill each other and me all the time. Unlike you and Mom, You guys are always fighting.” She pointed out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No we aren’t.” I said, even as Hicchan stabbed a senbon into my throat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then what are you doing right now.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Sibling rivalry.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter 11</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Sakura absolutely refused to let Eyelash carry her, and the boys looked about ready to pummel the pervert camel when he looked at her. Gaara looked quite upset that anyone would think of his little cousin like that, and I don't blame him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Chopper laid on my back, and Naruto was hanging around me as I used my chakra to circulate the air around me, keeping a cool breeze at all times. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I know that Nami and Vivi were captured by the desert pirates, but I’m not worried. I know they're pretty much harmless to us. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Nami-san! How far did you go?!That side of you is wonderful too!” Sanji yelled into the desert.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Huh? What’s the matter Luffy?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Where’s Ace and the ramen guy?” He asked, looking around. I paled when I too looked around and couldn’t find any sign of Naruto or Ace</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Jashin damn it, we lost them. Fuck.” I groaned. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“When did they disappear?” Zoro asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably a while ago. Wasn’t looking where they were going and took a wrong turn, most likely. We’ll probably find them again soon though.” Hicchan sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Damn it Nachan.” Sakura groaned. Sasuke grunted.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Do you guys hear something?” Usopp asked, and we all tilted our heads, trying to hear what he was hearing. He ended up climbing the sand dune to get a better view, and we followed suit.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>In the anime, it was slightly impressive but a bit silly. In reality, It was actually fucking amazing to see such a huge ship sailing through the goddamned desert.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Holy shit….” My mouth dropped open as I stared at the sight before my eyes.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“A-ah! It’s Nami and Vivi! They’ve been caught! Oh, and the camel.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What?!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“AAARGHHHHH!” Luffy yelled and raced down the sand dune towards the pirate ship.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Damnit, let’s go too.” and down we went, most of them running, but us Uzushio nin slid down, Gaara’s sand giving us all an extra boost in speed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“GUM GUM-!” His arm wrapped around the mast and he shot towards the ship.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“GIVE-ME-WATER!” All of the straw hats, save Gaara, face planted in the sand. The main mast came crashing down.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Luffy, you’re an idiot….” I sighed and slid down, jumping at the last second to land on the deck in front of Luffy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You could have asked me for water, you idiot. How the hell did a moron like you manage to defeat one of Roger’s crew when you can’t even remember that we have a steady source of clean water?” I thumped my fist on his head before using the water gun jutsu for the boy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“These pirates are going to eat Eyelash.” Vivi told me. I blinked at her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Let ‘em. I only wanted to keep him around because it makes it easier for travel. Until he made goo goo eyes at my kid. Now, i couldn’t care less about him.” I said in a voice void of emotion.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Both Nami and Vivi started to berate me before a large shadow fell over me. I turned to look at the umbrella hat wearing man.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We, the Barbar sand pirates, have a saying…. ‘Aside from friends, nothing alive in the desert can’t be eaten.’” He said. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ll even eat stuff off the ground!” Luffy laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I once ate a man.” I stared the man dead in the eye as I said that.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“E-eh? But you’ll get sick?” He sweated.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Then I’ll be careful.” Luffy said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was careful. He was more plant than person.” I shrugged. Kakashi landed on the deck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Stop telling people about the time you ate a Zetsu, that’s just creepy.” He scolded me.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Your horns are showing, Kakashi.” I gestured to the two long white horns now visible on his head, as the wind had flattened his hair. He quickly fixed his hair back into its normal style.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What funny kids!” The tall bearded man laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re funny too! Well, let’s eat!” Luffy laughed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once the two girls were freed, the man introduced himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m Barbarrossa, captain of the Barbar Sand Pirates! Luffy, was it? I’m sorry for the rough treatment of your friends. It’s just that we’re all so hungry…” Luffy laughed again. Geez this kid is always amused by something.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“No, I don’t mind!” Nami punched him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“That’s not for you to say!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“But captain! We don’t have any wood to repair our main mast! Without the main mast, we won’t have enough thrust!” one of the crewmates pointed out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah! What are we going to do?!” The crew cried out.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about that, I can fix it. Suchan, we have more than enough food for just us, we can spare a scrolls worth of food for these guys.” Hicchan turned to me. I nodded and unsealed the food scroll while Hicchan went to work, regrowing a mast from the stump of the old one.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Woah! What kind of devil fruit did you eat?!” Someone yelled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I didn’t eat a devil fruit! It’s a bloodline ability, I was born with it.” Hicchan smiled, and I handed out food to the pirates.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Eh, Suzuki-chan?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes, Sanji?” I raised an eyebrow at the blonde.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You said that Luffy defeated one of Roger’s crew. Did you mean-?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Gol D. Roger, former pirate king? His crew? Yes, I did.” I smiled as everyone went pale, and Luffy started screaming.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wh-who was it?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Buggy. I know he seems to be quite incompetent, but he was part of the crew for a reason. I remember hearing Pops saying about him and Shanks basically being Rogers adopted kids. I get the feeling that he wasn’t actually taking you guys seriously, or was just testing you guys.” I explained, and Nami went white as a sheet.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I stole a map from one of the men who was part of one of the most powerful crews in the world.” She said with a numb look on her face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wait, Shanks was a part of the Pirate King’s Crew?!” Luffy yelled. I looked at him weirdly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I thought you knew, considering you're wearing Roger’s old hat.” I frowned, knocking my fist on his straw hat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shanks gave me it.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“And where the hell did you think he got it in the first place, moron? Roger gave it to Shanks, Shanks gave it to you.” I said, and Luffy stared at me for a moment before his eyes bugged out of his head and his jaw dropped to the floor.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>“WHAAAAAT?!” </em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How do you even know that?” I looked at Vivi.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“If a spider was present, there’s no doubt that I at least know of it. I may not have all the details, but I know things that many others would not be able to know because of my spider spy network.” I gestured to the side ands let a senbon fall out of a seal, pricking my finger. I slammed my hand on the ground, a poof of smoke cleared to reveal a giant huntsman spider with blue markings on the ground beside my hand. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hello Yushiro. I have a small task for you today. I need you to track down Naruto and Ace, and bring them back to us. They got separated from us, and this desert is too large for us to go looking for them.” I stroked his back gently.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Of course Lady Naka- I mean Suzuki. Sorry about the slip up.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine, I just don’t like you using formalities with me. We’re equals after all. Go on. I’m sure Naruto will have a treat for you when you find him.” I sent him scurrying off and stood up, straightening my clothes. Vivi looked at where the spider was previously with a pale look. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Huh. You’d think she wouldn’t be afraid of spiders with all the crazy shit in this desert. Oh well, I was the same until after I got to know my summons.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I could hear hooves in the distance so I walked to the edge and looked at the people coming towards us.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Boss! It’s them! They're coming!”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What the hell are those idiots doing? OI, GAARA!” I yelled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, mom?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know what to do.” He nodded. I could feel his chakra sink in the sand all around us, spreading rapidly towards the riders. As soon as they reached the edge of Gaara’s reach, sand swirled around them before lifting them into the air and fucking yeeting them back the way that they had come from.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The same thing happened to the giant ball of dung when it rolled down the dune. I waved goodbye to it as I watched it sail through the air and over the horizon.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well… that was over quickly. That wasn’t necessary, was it?” Sakura looked at us. I shrugged. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably not, but it got rid of them. We’re going to be travelling through the desert, it’s best that none of us get injured and waste energy healing each other when it can be saved for travelling.” I said before walking over to Barbarrossa. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, thanks for letting us stay here, but we need to leave now. We’re missing two members of our group, and Yushiro hasn’t returned so we should go and follow him. We appreciate your hospitality.” i bowed and he patted my head, his hand fucking dwarfing my head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine kid. We can take you a little ways away from the closest town.” I looked up at him from under his hand, eyes sparkling.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Really?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s the least we can do after you gave us food and fixed our mast." I smiled at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter 12</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“How the absolute fuck did they manage to get all the way over here without passing us at least once?!” I muttered, crossing my arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“OI, MA LOOK WHAT WE SCORED!” Naruto laughed, waving at us from atop a camel. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So you guys are the desert pirates, huh?” Ace asked, humor clear as day on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh, we just left them. Luffy broke their mast, so we fixed it and gave ‘em food, and so they dropped us off here. Did you guys get Yushiro?” I asked Naruto. He nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We got him just as we were leaving with all this food. He went back home though once he realized that we were bound to meet up with you guys again soon.” Naruto rubbed the back of his head and smiled widely at me. I just shook my head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Let’s just go. We have things we need to do. Whatever is happening down there, I'm pretty sure whatever you did to them was a lesson enough.” I ruffled his hair, smiling fondly at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You were right about him and Luffy being the same, Suzuki. He beat up these four people pretending to be rebel army guys and talked them into changing their ways. I didn’t know someone could be so charismatic.” Ace laughed, and I knocked my fist on Naruto’s head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Talk-no-jutsu is something of a specialty of his.  Don’t know many people that it doesn’t work on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you to stop calling me making friends ‘Talk-no-jutsu’, it’s embarrassing.” Naruto whines.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stop calling me mom, and maybe I’ll stop teasing you.” He shook his head.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Never!” I sighed. I knew it, but it didn’t hurt to try. I’m sorry for stealing your son, Kushina-san. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>And so we continued on towards Yuba together. I was rather glad that we were able to skip this little bit of filler, as I always failed at paying attention to that episode. Hopefully, I’ll be able to convince Ace to stay after the bounty hunter incident, or skip it entirely if possible. I do feel bad for those boys, but I’d much rather have Ace distracted from our hunt for as long as possible. A distracted Ace is an alive Ace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Can you let me down, Suzuki-chan? I want to try walking by myself.” I crouched down and let the little reindeer slide off my back. He trotted over to Zoro. I smiled fondly at the sight of the small reindeer trying to keep up with the swordsman.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t tell me you inherited Pops' habit of adopting everyone.” Ace teased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’re not actually related, it isn’t possible for me to inherit anything from him. And besides, it’s me getting adopted as their mom, not the other way around.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m pretty sure you’re in the process of adopting Chopper as your kid right now, Suchan.” Hicchan pointed out. I whacked his arm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up, you.” Both of them snickered at me. I sighed and pulled Ace right flush to my side, Hicchan following my lead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I ignored the knowing looks that my kids sent us.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sorry Ace. It looks like you might be getting the shovel talk from a bunch of overprotective kids, all of which are older than you. Even though it's just playful banter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I smiled contentedly, warmth flooding my chest. Ace bumped his shoulder against mine and entwined our fingers. Hicchan bent down and pressed a kiss to Ace’s cheek.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>I laughed when he went bright red from the tips of his ears and disappeared under his shirt. He retaliated by leaning up and kissing Hicchan on his jaw, even as his face approached being the color of a tomato. Hicchan just smirked at him and pretended like nothing happened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>We walked for about 4 minutes before his flush had faded to a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. He gathered himself before he stretched up and pressed a kiss oh so very close to the corner of my mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This time, instead of it being Ace that’s all flustered, it was me. It seems I need to amp up my game if he's already comfortable with playful cheek kisses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey Ace? I must be in an art museum, because I’m pretty sure I’m staring at a masterpiece right now.” I grinned wolfishly at him, watching his blush return with a vengeance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Suchan, you tease. Leave the poor guy alone." Hicchan winked at me, rather obviously, causing me to snort.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Like I'm going to pass up the chance to tease someone as cute as Ace is."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'm not cute!" Ace squawked indignantly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Sure ya are. You've got those adorable freckles-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're easy to fluster-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"A nice smile-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Don't forget the dimples!-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"And you're shorter than both of us. So-"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"In conclusion,"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're cute." Both of us said at the same time. He hid his face in his hands even as we linked arms, laughing quietly.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"What's so funny guys?" Usopp looked back at us.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Suzuki and Hisoka are being dicks." Ace groaned. I just snickered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The next time we stopped for lunch, thankfully we weren't in the outcropping of rocks that was shown in the anime. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luffy stole one of my dumplings and that can not stand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Because he is of course not immortal like my brother, I couldn't use my normal means of retaliation. However, he is rubber. That is plenty for me to use alongside my imagination. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I grabbed the kid and stretched his arms and neck as far as I could before I tied him into a knot similar in appearance to a Gordian knot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Zoro, Usopp, Naruto and Chopper all laughed at Luffy’s misfortune. Ace snickered into his hand and obviously didn’t heed the example that i had made of his little brother, as he also tried to steal one of my dumplings. I slapped his hand and shoved the rest on my plate into my mouth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Suzuki you're gonna choke if you do that.” I glared as I swallowed all 5 of them.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need to breathe, Ace.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There are so many innuendos that I could make right now, but I won't because you scare me sometimes.” Hicchan sweated from his place beside Eyelash.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good, maybe you’ll stop being such a brat then.” i snarked at him, earning a snort from Sakura.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Good luck with that. He has about as much chance of changing his attitude as you have of being killed.” I frowned at that and calculated the odds.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So, like 1.5%. Cause if anyone can find a loophole to my immortality, it’ll be Hicchan. Or Kakuzu on a really bad day.” I said, and Sasuke just sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think that’s how math works, Mom.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up! I haven’t had to do this since I was like 17!”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Happy Halloween guys! I hope all of you stayed safe tonight and had fun! i ended up dressing up as Jashin-sama, So i'm curious about your guys' costumes if you dressed up. Either way, I hope all of you had a good time, no matter if you celebrated or not.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Chapter 13</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Seeing the devastated city of Yuba like that, it really felt like a metaphorical kick in the balls. I can’t imagine how Vivi feels.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“This is bad. It's almost no different from that Erumalu city!” Zoro said, and i just whacked him on the back of the head. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Come one, guys. It's no use just standing around and doing nothing. That man down there probably needs help.” Hacchan pointed down at Toto.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You must be exhausted from your trek through the desert. I won’t make you help me, i just wonder why you came all the way here to a city that can’t live up to its reputation anymore.” That last bit was under his breath but we still caught it. I hopped down and started digging.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s no problem, I’m happy to help. Those guys came here chasing rumors of the Rebel ar-” as soon as the words left my mouth, he was throwing things at them, and I have absolutely no idea </span>
  <em>
    <span>where</span>
  </em>
  <span> all those barrels came from.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“CURSE YOU! DON’T TELL ME YOU’RE HOPING TO JOIN THE REBELLION?!” I leaned away from the man as he threw them, and Hicchan stepped in when one thwacked Ace in the side of the head and he went down for the count.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Woah old timer, calm down. They aren’t looking to join. They’ve got info that’ll help to end the rebellion, courtesy of Vivi.” Hicchan gestured at the blue haired princess, and the old man froze as he looked at her. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Vivi? Is it really you?” Toto asked in disbelief as he walked towards her, even as Usopp tried to stop him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“NO WAIT OLD MAN, VIVI ISN’T THE PRINCESS!” He yelled in place of Luffy, who was now trying to see how much he could balance on Ace’s head before he woke up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Vivi, it’s really you! You’re alive!” Toto hugged her, and I went back to digging. It just seems like too personal a moment for me to intrude on.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Toto offered for us to go inside and talk there, I just shook my head and told him I’d rather stay outside and do my best to find water. Luffy, Sasuke and Gaara shared the same thoughts as I did, and we all set to work while the more sympathetic half of our group went and listened to Toto. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It’s not that we don’t care, it’s more so that most of us can’t sit through a long talk about feelings and the past. Half of us can’t really do feelings unless it’s in the extreme sense, and the other half can’t actually focus through long talks and need to keep busy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>We kept digging for a long time, long enough that the sky was turning purple and the breeze was no longer burning, but instead was a sort of biting chill. I don’t think Gaara even considered using his sand manipulation to further our progress, which I’m glad because this task is so menial and repetitive that it’s actually relaxing.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Unlike the original timeline, the water we got was…. a lot more. Like, I was knee deep in it. I am 6’6 and the water was at my knees.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When Toto came out after having a long talk with the rest of our group, he nearly broke down in tears when he saw how much water we had managed to uncover.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>We all decided to turn in for the night, and I immediately zoomed in on my little brother who was reading on the floor. I walked over and unceremoniously plopped myself in his lap, putting my chin on his shoulder and stretching my legs out behind him. He grunted and shifted himself so that he could still read his book from over my shoulder. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s up Suchan?” He muttered to me. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hug me.” He laughed and complied, keeping his book in one hand. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Meanwhile, behind me, a pillow fight erupted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The shouting went on for a bit until a pillow nailed both Hicchan and I in the side of the head and knocked us both over. I heard a rip and Hicchan scrambled out of the hug as he looked at his torn book in shock. I looked at it’s cover and felt all the colour drain from my face.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It was the copy of The Tale of The Utterly Gutsy Shinobi that I had bought him when we were 10, it’s pages worn and slightly stained from all of its years spent being read and carried by a ninja. He had gotten it signed by Jiraiya when we were travelling with him, and it was his most prized possession.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And now it’s cover was torn in half.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh dear… Now you’ve done it boys.” I said and Hicchan stood up and cracked his knuckles, a dark chuckle leaving his lips. He grabbed the pillow that had knocked us over and whammied Usopp in the face with it, knocking the poor boy out. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I shook my head and shuffled over to Ace, who was watching the fight with amusement on his face. I closed my eyes and for a second I could almost believe that I was back home in Uzushio, or back on the Moby Dick.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Because that’s what it felt like. It felt like family. And I’m selfish enough to admit that I’d love for all three parts of my family to come together. Uzushio, the Whitebeards, and the newest addition, the Strawhats. But I also know that that won’t happen, not while Luffy wants to be the Pirate King, and not while Teach is still at large.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And the day when I get my hands on that sorry sonovabitch, there will be nothing in this world that will stop me from tearing him to shreds. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Day….</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shit. Sacchan, what day is it?” I asked, opening my eyes to look at the pinkette.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“March 3rd …..shit. Happy birthday, Mom.” She smiled at me. I groaned and buried my face in Ace’s hair.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How did you forget your own birthday?” Luffy asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You try remembering when you don’t have a way to keep track of time. I don’t want to be 30.” I whined.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Mom, we all know that you’re older than that. Happy 59th birthday.” Gaara said, and I just groaned. Ace laughed and patted my arm.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s not so bad, Suzuki. You’re not as old as Pops just yet.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ace, I am older than Roger was when he died. That’s not going to make me feel better about myself.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Suchan, I’m 54. If I can live with that, you can live with being 59.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Shut up, stop making sense.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know what? The crew is gonna get all mopey when they find out they missed your birthday. Thatch will probably make a cake for you anyways.” Ace said. The thought of that made me smile.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I yawned and sputtered when Ace’s hair got in my mouth, pulling away and scrunching my face up in disgust as I spat the strands out of my mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, so you can handle cannibalism, but can’t handle a little bit of hair? Good to know.” Hicchan snarked at me. I rolled my eyes and shoved him over, standing up and going over to the only bed that managed to escape the pillow fight relatively unscathed, flopping onto it and claiming it for myself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I had already started to drift off when I felt two bodies snuggle up to me, one almost felt like a corpse compared to the heat of the other one, but both felt like home. I let out a content sigh and pressed my face into my pillow.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I really hope I wasn’t imagining the searing kiss that was pressed to my temple.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>That night I dreamt of pounding drums and a song in a language I could never hope to recognize, and things that no mortal could ever begin to comprehend.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A worthy sacrifice was close, and I could almost taste the blood on my tongue already.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0014"><h2>14. Chapter 14</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>When I woke up much earlier than everyone else I decided that putting a plan together to reunite the ASL brothers, along with a backup plan for if Ace manages to get captured was long overdue. And while I worked on that, I thought that I might as well take care of some other things. Namely updating Brook on Laboon and easing his loneliness even a little bit, and keeping the Vinsmoke family away from Sanji.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I started writing letters, one for Dragon, one for Brook, and one for Judge. Two of them will be sent out later, after I earn myself a bounty, but Brook deserves to know that Laboon is alright and still waiting for him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I slipped the letters into envelopes and wrote just their names on the front in obnoxiously large and flowery looking letters. I summoned a small messenger spider and gave her her instructions and the letter for Brook before dismissing her. I sealed the other letters into the space between my fingers.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What was that?” Nami blinked sleepily at me.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I was just putting away some letters that I was writing.” I said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, okay…… Who were you writing to?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“An enemy, a hopefully new friend, and Luffy’s dad.” I said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You know my dad?” Luffy asked. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m pretty sure everyone knows your dad, Luffy, or have at least heard of him. I’m actually surprised that no one else has figured out the connection between you, your dad, and your gramps. Because all three of you all have the same last name. I swear the government is so fucking stupid sometimes.” I shook my head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So cool! Who is he?” Luffy asked, smiling widely.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Monkey D. Dragon. You’ve already met him. Really, what the fuck was Garp thinking, trying to train you and Ace to be marines? You would have been killed if anyone suddenly gained more brain cells and put 2 and 2 together, not to mention what would happen to Ace.” I shuddered at the thought.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why is Luffy’s family so crazy?” Nami muttered before going back to sleep.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Wha friend were you writing to?” Luffy asked even as he was starting to fall back asleep. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“His name is Brook, and he’s stuck on a ship with a broken rudder all by himself. He is the last person of his crew, and he’s very lonely. If you run across him, do me a favour and do your best to help him?” I asked as I got up and tucked the tired teen back into bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hmm… okay. I’ll do my best.” He gave a tired smile and then conked out right then and there.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span> I went to go and sit outside and enjoy the fresh air when I froze.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah shit, I’ve done it again haven’t I?” I slapped my hand to my forehead and sat down in the sand. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Even if there’s not much to do, I still shouldn’t start slacking on my duties as a follower of the way of Jashin. I unclasped the pendant and wrapped it’s chain around my hand, tight enough to break skin and let my blood leak down the chain. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Now, the thing with Jashinism is that how you worship is different for everyone. Some people, like Hidan, take to praying before and after a sacrifice and only then. Some people give burnt offerings of food and blood at every meal. Some pray every day, and some think that slaughter in Jashin’s name is the only thing you need to do to be a Jashinist. It doesn’t matter how much pain you cause, only that the pain is shared and blood is shed. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hisoka shares the pain of all of his patients as he performs all needed cuts on himself.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>My way of worship is a bit more traditional, it is far closer to the original worshippers than anything I’ve seen before. That may just be because I’ve experienced death before, and Hisoka could have followed in my footsteps but chose not to, but I am… a lot closer to my God than even </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hidan</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I give sacrifices of my own blood when I pray, and I’ve been told by observers that I don’t speak in any tongue that they could recognize. On new moons, I prepare a special sacrifice with wine laced with blood as herb, and as much pain as possible shared between the victim and I. It is…. ‘uncomfortable’ for outsiders to see just how devoted I am to my God, as I’ve been told by my family.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So I sat outside with my eyes closed and unintelligible words crossing my lips as blood slowly seeped into the sand. By the time I finished my prayers and meditation, the sun was coming up and Hisoka was sitting beside me as he spoke his prayers in a hushed voice. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He opened his eyes just as I stood up and kicked sand over the blood to hide it. I smiled at him and ran a small bit of water over my pendant to rinse the blood off before I put the chain around my neck.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You done for today?” I asked as he got up and dusted the sand off of his pants.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, for today. Jashin-sama is excited for the sacrifice that we’re closing in on, so I thought I could relax a bit on the prayers. It looks like that thought never even crossed your mind though.” He punched me in the shoulder and went inside.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>I followed him and everyone turned to greet us when Chopper saw the blood on my hand and screamed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“AHH SUZUKI YOUR HAND! WHAT HAPPENED?!” He yelled and pulled me over to sit on a chair as he looked for bandages and fussed over my hand.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah, Chopper… It’s not such a big deal. It’s just a small cut.” I laughed nervously as he aggressively disinfected my hand and wrapped bandages around it. Sakura laughed at me.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How did you manage to cut yourself like that?!” Chopper bopped me on the forehead with his hoof.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah, that was on purpose. It’s a religious thing.” I scratched the back of my head.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What kind of religion do you follow that demands blood?!” Usopp yelled.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Uh…. I don’t think I should answer that…..”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Why not?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“We’re part of a murder cult.” Hicchan said without any hesitation.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh. That makes sense….. WAIT </span>
  <em>
    <span>WHAT?! A MURDER CULT?!” </span>
  </em>
  <span>He and Chopper yelled. Ace looked at us weirdly.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah, that suddenly makes a lot of things about you two make more sense.” He said and I shrugged.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, it’s not like we could’ve joined any other religion. We were chosen by our God before we even learned about the way of Jashin. Weird ass prophetic dreams and being watched by an omnipotent God can do things to ya. Also, Hidan spent like 4 hours a day preaching to us when we met him. We kind of weren’t given a choice.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There was a long uncomfortable silence. And then it was broken by Luffy screaming about meat.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When we finally left, Toto stopped us, handing a canteen full of water to Luffy.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m sorry that this is all that I can give you guys, but it’s the least I can do after you managed to uncover so much of the water.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s fine, Toto-san. We’ll make sure Luffy doesn’t drink it all as soon as we leave.” Gaara said.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>We ended up only walking for an hour before Luffy frowned and sat down beside a dried up old tree.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Luffy?” Usopp questioned.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey kid, what’s up?” I asked as I crouched in front of him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I quit.” He pouted at me.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Brat, you’re gonna have to do more explaining than just ‘I quit.’ What’s on your mind….. Ah, you saw it too then?” I asked, and he nodded.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Ah, now I get it. Yeah, going to Katorea isn’t going to solve anything if that’s the only thing we do.” I nodded and stood up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What are you saying Luffy-san,Suzuki-san?” Vivi asked.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I wanna kick Crocodile’s ass! If we stop the people rebelling, will that stop Crocodile? Besides, with how many people here have high bounties, we’ll cause more trouble for Katorea anyways.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Luffy is right. The main problem is Crocodile. Get rid of the Croc and we get rid of the root of the problem. The rebels will still be rebelling, but they won’t have Crocodile fueling their anger anymore. And if we go to Katorea, we’re bound to draw attention to ourselves and make the man send people to make </span>
  <em>
    <span>sure </span>
  </em>
  <span>that we don’t make contact with the rebel army. No matter what we do, there is going to be death. Either as a distraction for us or collateral damage against a Baroque Works member.” I sighed. God, this is going to be hard to explain to the princess.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You want to do this without anyone dying. Not the civilians, not us. You want everyone to stay safe and sound. Don’t you think that’s too softhearted?” Luffy asked, and it was a tone that left no room for kindness.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“LUFFY! Can’t you have some sympathy for Vivi?” Nami took a step forward but Sanji put a hand in front of her.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Don’t.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“So what? What’s wrong with not wanting people to die?!” Vivi yelled at us.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Vivi, you don’t seem to understand this. There is a time and place for optimism, but people die everyday, and this is a very small scale civil war. </span>
  <span class="u">
    <b>War</b>
  </span>
  <span>, Vivi. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span> how this is going to end, Gaara knows, Kakashi knows, Hisoka knows, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke. We all know because we’ve </span>
  <b>
    <em>lived</em>
  </b>
  <span> it. The best we can do right now is try to minimize the damage that will come from both our actions and Crocodile’s. So, tell me Princess. What is the plan?” I said in an even tone. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“HOW CAN YOU BE SO INSENSITIVE SUZUKI?! THERE ARE PEOPLES LIVES AT STAKE AND-“ She cut herself off with a heaving sob. I sighed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s unrealistic to think you can save everyone all the time. The best we can do is tackle both problems at once and minimize the damage the country takes. It doesn’t mean we won’t help you, it just means that we need to take a different approach then what we’re doing right now. You can’t go into this believing that we’d let you put yourself in danger all by yourself. That’d be an insult to our pride if you thought that we would let a friend put themself in danger and not have their back.” She looked at me in surprise.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“How-“</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I recognize that look in your eye. I’ve seen it in so many people who were planning on doing something that’d probably get them killed. Many of those people are family, and just like with them, we won’t let you do this alone. So,” I looked her in the eyes, a small smile tugging on the corners of my mouth.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“What’s the plan?”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0015"><h2>15. Chapter 15</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Fair warning, there is a murder in this chapter. To be safe, it starts at around </p>
<p>‘I swung the sword, knowing full well that it would be blocked, but all I needed was a tiny nick, just a small scratch on the surface of the skin, and my fight would already be won.’ </p>
<p>And ends at</p>
<p>‘I sent a quick prayer to Jashin-sama before I left, heading towards the casino with that wrong smile plastered across my face.’</p>
<p>There is also an ooc Daz bonez in here, but in the circumstances, I’d say it’s pretty justified.</p>
<p>And sticking fingers in wounds. If you don’t like that, than maybe skip the paragraph after </p>
<p>‘"AHH HICCHAN YOU TOO?! WHO HURT YOU GUYS?!" Luffy yelled.’</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>We ended up splitting into two groups in the end. Those of us with bounties or little to no subtlety went to Rainbase, while Vivi led the rest of the crew to Katorea.</p>
<p>In group one, we had Luffy, Zoro, Ace, Naruto, Gaara, Hisoka, and myself. Group two contained Vivi, Nami, Chopper, Sakura, Kakashi, Sanji, and Sasuke.</p>
<p>It pained me to see my family split again, but it would have happened sooner or later. We’re all closer to being nomadic than anyone else in our village. Team 7, the Strawhats and our little trio of Whitebeards would have to split up again and go our separate ways.</p>
<p>That thought hurts, but I can’t dwell on it. And I know that my family is far stronger than most of the pirates of this stretch of the grand line. I even bet most of them will be Supernovas by the time they hit Sabaody.</p>
<p>By around 4, Rainbase was in sight, and Luffy was raring to go. I have to admit, I was just as excited. Hisoka and I already had come up with a plan to get our first bounties, and to have them <em> skyrocket </em> , and it included a lot of things that are going to be very <em> painful </em> for the Marines…..</p>
<p>And probably Ace, now that I think about it. </p>
<p>Maybe we should leave Roger out of this….. and the Baterilla citizens…..</p>
<p>Nah. This is going to be a big Fuck You to the Marines. They deserve every last bit of panic that we can cause. And supposedly bringing back the worst of the worst, the greatest minds and biggest mistakes that the Marines made from the dead? Mass hysteria. Especially with what we're gonna do.</p>
<p>"Do Baroque Works know that we're in the country?" Zoro asked, hand on Wado's hilt.</p>
<p>"Most likely, although we can't assume anything. Mr.2 did seem like kind of an airhead." Gaara clicked his tongue.</p>
<p>"Oh, you guys met Bentham? He's really cool, although he probably didn't realize that you're who his boss is looking for." I said, and everyone turned to look at me.</p>
<p>"How do you know his real name?" I gave them a look.</p>
<p>"I know almost everything. Do you really think I'm not going to know the names of potential enemies?" Gaara shook his head.</p>
<p>"Just be prepared. If they do know, there's bound to be Marines and Billions flooding the city. Such an and I have a plan to deal with that if it comes down to it, but it'll probably be emotionally draining for you guys if you do happen to see what we'll be doing. Just do your best to get into the casino. Dear Jashin-sama, why does this asshole have to have such a big ego. That Bananawani on top clearly screams 'this is an evil lair'." Hicchan said, that last part being muttered under his breath. </p>
<p>Luffy snickered.</p>
<p>We made it to the city before Ussop,Naruto, and Luffy all took off in search of water. Even though I was literally right beside them and could give them a drink if they <em> just asked.</em></p>
<p>"Those <em> idiots </em>."I slammed my palm to my forehead and groaned.</p>
<p>Sure enough, after we found some shade to wait for the two to come back, they came back with trouble.</p>
<p>As soon as the Marines got close enough, Hicchans voice seemed to project around the entire city, and I started to weave a mass genjutsu. </p>
<p>"<em> Grave digger, Grave digger, dig us no grave </em> . <em> No grave for the ones born of sea and storm. No shallow earth , return us to the sea. If we are refused, consequences there shall be" </em> The song echoed around us as I let the Mangekyo Sharingan spin to life and enforce the genjutsu. </p>
<p>Black and white markings bled to life over our skin as the dead seemed to crawl out the ground. Many were familiar faces, at least, to the Marines. Donquixote Rocinante, Jaguar D. Saul, Bell-mère, Mother Caramel. Others… were much more obvious to those who didn't live under a rock.  Fisher Tiger, Gol D. Roger, Mont Blanc Noland,  Kozuki Oden, Otohime, Rocks D. Xebec. The Ohara scholars and the Baterilla citizens. </p>
<p>I left Rouge alone, I didn't want to traumatize Ace too much more than seeing Roger would cause just on principle.</p>
<p>All the illusions had our marks superimposed over their faces, so it was clear that it was our doing.</p>
<p>And that was all that was needed. I stopped and looked at the chaos as the Marines tried to attack the spirits of fallen comrades and innocent citizens and menaces of the sea. </p>
<p>I shared a grin with my brother before I turned to the group.</p>
<p>"Get going, this'll only last so long." I shoved a starstruck Luffy towards the casino before Hicchan and I took to the rooftops. </p>
<p>We were only up there for a minute before drums started to thrum in my head and in my chest where my heart used to sit. It was clear to me that  Hisoka also felt it, because we both started to head in the direction where the drums started to rattle my bones. </p>
<p>A bullet shot right through my gut but I just ignored it, even when I could hear Tashigi and Smoker yelling somewhere beneath us. I probably should have been paying attention to that, because before I knew it, there was a very angry logia right behind me.</p>
<p>"GET BACK HERE! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!" Smoker roared at us, and Woah Holy shit he reminded me of Kakuzu for a second there.</p>
<p>"Aw, did Smokey not like our little gift to the world? But we worked so hard to put this together. It took weeks to plan this! Or did you just not like seeing old comrades being puppeted by pirates?" I teased, throwing a wink over my shoulder before I shunshined away, cackling all the way.</p>
<p>The blood rush felt amazing, I could feel every drop thrumming in my veins. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a hunt that got my blood pumping this much just at the thought of the sacrifice at the end.</p>
<p>I followed my instincts, the rattle in my bones growing stronger for every leap I made. When it felt like all the flesh on my bones would slough off, I knew I was in the right place. I scanned the road before making eye contact with Mr. 1. Daz Bonez.</p>
<p>
  <em> You.</em>
</p>
<p>I grinned. </p>
<p>Ooh this is going to be fun.</p>
<p>I leapt off of the roof and landed in front of him, casually unsealing The Sword of the Thunder God.</p>
<p>"Supa Supa no Mi, huh? No wonder Jashin-sama wants your head. I've been wanting a challenge. Let's see if you're up to the task." I twirled the hilt of the sword in my hand as I smirked lazily at the man. </p>
<p>"You won't be the one who makes it out of this alive." I scoffed at that.</p>
<p>"Overconfident much? That will be your downfall, Daz-san." He didn't wait for me to draw a weapon, and went for my throat, bladed fingers extended, most likely aiming to end this quickly so he could go looking for the Strawhats. </p>
<p>I let the blades sink in even as my head was almost separated from my shoulders. I pulsed Chakra into my sword and let it's light become almost blinding. </p>
<p>I am not a trained sword fighter. I don't know any stances or how to properly hold a sword. </p>
<p>At least, a regular sword. This is not a regular sword, and is in fact my birthright. And proper stances are not really needed when the sword itself can cut through pretty much anything with ease.</p>
<p>I swung the sword, knowing full well that it would be blocked, but all I needed was a tiny nick, just a small scratch on the surface of the skin, and my fight would already be won.</p>
<p>I was not expecting the reaction I got from the man when he got electrocuted. The man is pretty much metal, due to being a blade human, and it's a great conductor for electricity. He just looked kind of surprised, when he should have been convulsing on the ground or in the air depending on what I did.</p>
<p>Blood leaked from his hand where he had caught the blade, and I wasted no time darting forward and swiping my finger across the cut before popping my finger in my mouth.</p>
<p>"Phase one of the ritual, complete." I said in a low voice, as the markings actually melted into existence instead of the copy I made for the illusion. </p>
<p>Blood gushed like a waterfall from my gaping throat and pooled on the ground at my feet. Perfect for me to draw the symbol and signal the end of this man's life.</p>
<p>I stepped in the blood and dragged my feet in a circle before completing the symbol with a flourish of footwork.</p>
<p>"Second phase complete. Ritual in progress. Won't you share your pain with me, Daz-san?" I said as I sealed my sword again and brought out my scythe, shifting into a stance that made it impossible to move me if I didn't want to. </p>
<p>Daz obviously didn't see the danger, confidence clouding his thoughts. He went to attack me and I blocked with my forearm. Twin gashes opened up and I smirked when he jumped away with a calculating look in his eyes.</p>
<p>"What did you do." He said, and I broke out into high pitched laughter.</p>
<p>"Do you see now, darling? I'll walk away from this completely fine, but you'll be lucky to even be in one piece once I'm done with you." I stabbed my scythe into my calf, dragging from the ankle to the crook behind my knee, being sure to slice through the nerves there. </p>
<p>Daz crumpled to the ground in pain, and the inability to actually be able to use that leg anymore.</p>
<p>I smirked at the man as I casually reached up and slammed my palm into the side of my nose, breaking it with an audible snap.</p>
<p>The scream the usually composed man let out was like music to my ears. His eyes watered from the pain. I smiled a vicious, porcelain smile as I savoured the pain.</p>
<p>"Your pain is sacred, dear. I'm only here to bring you to your full potential, and to rid you of the silly notion that you're invincible. You have a special place already carved out for you in Jashin-sama's aether." I purred.</p>
<p>"Fuck. You." He spat, and oh dear. I must be really scaring him if he's breaking his composure this much. </p>
<p>I clicked my tongue and shook my head. I dug the blade into my chest, wiggling it around to worsen the damage, splintering ribs and tearing a hole in our lungs. Without warning, I jammed my fingers in the hole and clawed at the walls of my lung, bloody tissue peeling away under my fingernails.</p>
<p>Daz lay in front of me, struggling to breathe even as his lung collapsed. I sighed and decided to finish him off. I plunged my blade in my abdomen, into a place where I knew it would slice right through my abdominal aorta. Daz lay dead at my feet within seconds as he bled out internally.</p>
<p>I sent a quick prayer to Jashin-sama before I left, heading towards the casino with that <em> wrong </em> smile plastered across my face.</p>
<p>As soon as I stepped in, Hisoka came up behind me, just as drenched in blood as I was. The people in the casino screamed when they saw us, but someone let out a hollering shout before a blur of silver came out of nowhere and tackled me.</p>
<p>"Wha- HIDAN?!" I looked at my shorter husband as he gave me a manic smile. </p>
<p>"What the hell are you doing here, you crazy bastard?!" He laughed and hugged me.</p>
<p>"We're gonna punch Crocoboy, why the fuck are you here?"</p>
<p>"'kuzu dragged me here. He's taking all of these bastards money. Now get the fuck down here and kiss me." Instead of bending down to his height, I scooped him up and smashed my mouth against his is a bruising and bloody parody of a kiss.  </p>
<p>"Can you not right now? We're kind of in the middle of something." Hisoka huffed and I flipped him the bird, but pulled away anyways. </p>
<p>Hidan snickered and scampered off. I sighed happily and went in search of the VIP room. I quite literally just got there in time to see all of them go right down through the floor, Smoker included.</p>
<p>I launched myself down, through the floor, Hicchan on my tail.</p>
<p>"YOU FUCKING IDIOTS HOW THE SHIT DID YOU FALL FOR THIS?!" I snarled as I shook Luffy by the collar of his shirt. </p>
<p>"AAAA SUCHAN YOU'RE HURT!!!" Luffy screamed, his eyes bugging out of his head.</p>
<p>We slammed into the ground, Luffy heaved in pain under me from my knees slamming into his gut.</p>
<p>Hicchan groaned from where he had cracked his head on the ground. Luffy looked over at him before his jaw dropped.</p>
<p>"AHH HICCHAN YOU TOO?! WHO HURT YOU GUYS?!" Luffy yelled.</p>
<p>"Don't worry about it, I did most of this to myself. Except for this one." I jammed my fingers into the gash in my throat and wiggled them. Smoker let out a strangled cry and heaved. Gaara paled and Naruto just turned away. Zoro looked almost as green as his hair, and Ace didn't look nearly as affected as everyone else, but that may have been because he's seen me take worse hits from Hisoka. </p>
<p>Luffy didn't look too fazed, most likely because he knows I'm immortal and the wound won't actually kill me, but he doesn't like the fact that I got hurt in the first place.</p>
<p>"Suzuki, why were you parading a bunch of very dead people around the city?" Ace asked.</p>
<p>"Because they are very shocking to see and we needed a distraction to get away." Hicchan answered for me.</p>
<p>"And uh…. Who did you kill after we separated?" He asked.</p>
<p>"Some random girl who thought hurting a Whitebeard was a good idea, or even an easy thing to do." Hicchan said.</p>
<p>"And I got some dude with a blade devil fruit. He went down pretty easy. Jashin-sama was pleased. My bones aren't vibrating anymore, so that's good."</p>
<p>"Ahh, yeah I forgot about the murder cult thing there for a minute." Ace sighed.</p>
<p>"The fucking what?" Smoker sounded strained.</p>
<p>"Well isn't this a pleasant surprise. I get to kill three Whitebeards as well as these fools." Crocodile laughed.</p>
<p>"Good luck with that, Crocoboy. Mr.1 is currently lying dead in the middle of the road because of me. Marco isn't the only immortal in Pops' crew." He turned around.</p>
<p>"That's why that cell is made of seastone. I think I'll have you die an 'accidental' death so your death can't be traced back to me." I snorted.</p>
<p>"Do whatever the hell you want, My husbands know I'm here, and they will raise hell for you, so I dare you. Do your worst." I snarled, walking to the bars and sticking my arms through them, leaning forward to make direct eye contact with the man.</p>
<p>"I'll be getting rid of you soon enough. Not to worry." And he walked away.</p>
<p>As soon as he was out, I turned to Gaara.</p>
<p>"Can you still use your sand in here?" </p>
<p>"Yes Mom. That man irritates me, using sand for such devastation when it should be used to protect." He said in a monotone voice.</p>
<p>"Good. That will be our trump card if we need it. Try not to show that you can still use chakra in here, because I have a feeling he's going to try something. I just hope that the other group can deal with his partner in crime."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>For those of you wondering why Daz was out during all of this in the first place.... there were marines in a panic all over the city, someone had to investigate.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0016"><h2>16. Chapter 16</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Hi guys. Sorry that this isn’t a chapter, but well. My cat, who was my best friend and was by my side through everything and was basically my son, passed away yesterday.</p><p>It was very sudden, and we got absolutely no warning about it. He started showing signs of being in pain and Illness at 9pm the day before, and when we took him to the vet yesterday, it was already too late. And before that I got hit with writers block, so it’ll be a little bit longer before I can focus enough to actually write something that I feel you guys deserve.</p>
  </div></div>
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